The page proofs of Bullettime have been keeping me up till 1 or 2am every night for the past four, but now they are done. See?




One more pass, after these corrections are made, ought to do it!

http://xkcd.com/1057/

On a related note:



Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment(s); comment here or there.

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment(s); comment here or there.

Playing Pinball Arcade reminds me of the unfortunate fact that the voice actors in these pinball machines rarely got any visible credit (unless they were celebrities associated with a licensed property, like The Addams Family or Star Trek: TNG). It's well-known that one of the princess voices in Medieval Madness was a pre-stardom Tina Fey, but nobody seems to know who those great voices in Theatre of Magic were.

And now I'm wondering about the main female voice in Tales of the Arabian Nights (not the captured princess, who you only hear briefly, but the friendly genie). She also sounds to me like she might be the same person as a prominent female voice in Cirqus Voltaire. I could be imagining things, but both voices sound to me remarkably like Mrs. Sparklenose, the miniature teacher in the "Abby's Flying Fairy School" animated segments in recent seasons of Sesame Street.

Mrs. Sparklenose's voice is Jessica Stone, who seems to have had an extensive theater career and a long list of one-shot and recurring TV appearances. IMDB doesn't list any pinball credits, but, then, nobody ever does. So all I can really do at this level of effort is guess.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/CuteOverload/~3/2Xmcy3_2hpo/

http://cuteoverload.com/?p=72924

Yummy! Please pass the catsup.

These kittens are most nomible, Emily Grace B.!

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/CuteOverload/~3/PQPAZ5hnFAQ/

http://cuteoverload.com/?p=72915

I only listen with one ear when I am being told what to do or what not to do.

Does Wynnie the Corgi have bouts of earitability, Ellen L?

http://feministing.com/2012/05/17/what-we-missed-650/

http://feministing.com/?p=48452

The beautiful and influential queen of disco, Donna Summer passed away today at 63.

Is it really straight marriage that has evolved?

Cautionary words from Chloe about how Australia must not follow the US in it’s assault on repro rights.

On this week’s Opinionated, Amanda and I talk about that horrible article in the NYTimes about black women and weight.

Black Tiger Penis Whip Staff.

Tiger Penis Whip!

PENIS STAFF!

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

The Big Click's May issue is complete with the release of Mar Preston's The Man Who Loved Birds. If you like The Big Click, please consider buying the ebook! Also, our first issue, featuring stories be Ken Bruen and Anonymous-9 is now only a dollar from us and 99 cents elsewhere!


Speaking of ebooks, The Damned Highway (w/ Brian Keene) is now an ebook on NOOK. And also Kobo for the seven of you out there who own that reader. No Kindle yet; it is coming soon.

http://blogs.feministsf.net/feminist-spec-fic-anthology-from-pm-press

http://blogs.feministsf.net/?p=1705

подаръциFYI, y’all:

Ann and Jeff VanderMeer will be editing a proposed anthology of feminist speculative fiction, to be published by PM Press.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/CuteOverload/~3/KEWT5mVEWto/

http://cuteoverload.com/?p=72930

Step One: Look really cute and get your coat brushed thoroughly. Remember to save the accumulated hair!

Step Two: Press and mold hair together to form a pleasing hairstyle, like this one called “The Katherine Hepburn”.

Step Three: Have some fun; include beards. Here’s our fave, “Elvis with a Chin Curtain”.

Step Four: Be like Maru and store your catoupées in boxes.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/CuteOverload/~3/C-Mmt9r8lQ0/

http://cuteoverload.com/?p=72919

Look at that bearing. Notice his tiny little white ascot. See how he is carried about like a little prince?

His name is Dutch, but maybe it should be Duke.

With paws like that, he’s sure to be GIANT royalty, Chris B.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2012/05/17/donna-summer-1943-2012/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=7664

Sad. Disco queen Donna Summer dies at 63:

Donna Summer, the “Queen of Disco” whose hits included “Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls,” “Love to Love You Baby” and “She Works Hard for the Money,” has died, a representative said Thursday. She was 63.

Her publicist, Brian Edwards, said Summer was suffering from cancer.

Here is the statement from her family:

Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts, the greatest being her faith. While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy. Words truly can’t express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time.

Here’s Donna Summer, still sounding great in December 2009:

Click here to view the embedded video.

And here’s a link to one of those things I’m just happy to know exists: Video from the Mac Davis Show of Davis, Donna Summer, Dolly Parton and Tom Jones singing a Gospel medley.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2012/05/17/on-christianity-and-marriage-equality-part-2/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=7661

More smart and wise recent posts from those of us kicking against the pricks.

Sarah Bessey: “I’m an evangelical Christian. And I think same-sex marriage should be legal”

As someone raised in a post-Christian culture, now living in a post-same-sex-marriage culture, AND as someone that is a heterosexual evangelical Christian herself, I think that same-sex marriage should be legal –and I think that Christians, even those that believe homosexuality to be a sin, need to back off the issue.

From a purely pragmatic standpoint, it doesn’t affect my own life negatively. For my friends and acquaintances that are GLBT,the ability to have a legal standing on par with heterosexual couples carries weight in every area of their lives. And the fact that two consenting adult people love each other and are committed to one another does not devalue me, my marriage, my religion, or the society I live in. If anything, it has created a more stable, tolerant, and accepting society.

Most of us evangelicals in Canada, regardless of personal beliefs about homosexuality, can admit that since same-sex marriage has been legalised in Canada, our society has not gone to hell in a hand basket, nor has traditional marriage, or our families been under attack. Scare tactics and wild-eyed fear-based rhetoric rarely turns out to be true.  In actual practice, our society has become “live and let live” which is actually a rather tolerant and comfortable place to be.

Karoli: “About Gay Marriage and President Obama …”

Here’s one final biblical admonition that I try but don’t always succeed at heeding:

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” – Romans 12:18

In the context of marriage equality, it is simple enough for me to heed it and live by it. Same sex marriage does not threaten me or undermine my marriage. It does not elevate anyone above anyone else. Condemning same sex marriage and becoming an advocate for stripping people of happiness and stigmatizing them does not comport with “living at peace with everyone else.”

Kimberly Knight: “Coming Out Christian — A New Blog at Patheos”

Since I am a Christian I must ground Christian dialogue in a great Book that has formed me. But just as I regard scripture as holy, I do not read it literally nor is it the only source that informs me. Experience, reason and a plethora of great minds are my companions on this journey. Note: all strictly literalist arguments will fall short here, especially if they are not grounded in love. I am not motivated to change your faith. Pray, worship and study as your heart dictates but the time has come to fully live into our national separation of church and state — your faith has no place legislating my civil rights.

David J. Dunn: “Why Christian Activism Against Gay Marriage Is Not Very Christian”

The politics of the “sheep” are not about working to restrict the civil rights of the “goats.” The “sheep” are able to enter the kingdom of God because, in a way, they have been living in it already. The prophets of Israel hoped for God to establish peace and justice on earth. For Jesus to fulfill the prophets is for that peace and justice to be present in him. The kingdom goes where Jesus goes. If we believe the above verses, that means the kingdom goes where people are hungry, thirsty, sick and imprisoned. When Christians go to those who have no power or voice in society, they are standing in the presence of the kingdom, because they are standing in the presence of their King.

It is not as if people weren’t “gay” back then. The idea of the “homosexual” as a kind of identity is a pretty recent invention, but there is ample evidence from Greek and Roman art and literature that men and women engaged in same-sex acts. Such acts were common enough among Jews that the rabbis who contributed to the Talmud had to address it, sorting out which acts were sinful, why and how much. I am not saying that Jesus did not care about what people did in their bedrooms. My point is that he did not seem to care very much! He certainly cared less about gay sex than the majority of North Carolina’s voters.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2012/05/17/but-nobody-wants-to-die/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=7656

E.J. Dionne explains why he’s not quitting his Catholic church, prompting this response from DougJ at BalloonJuice:

It’s true that the church-going Catholics I talk to don’t listen to anything the crazy-ass bishops say. But, for me, I would not join any club that would have someone like Joe Ratzinger or Karol Wojtyla as a head member. I can understand thinking “Joey Ratz is an asshole, he doesn’t get to win, we get to win”, but I think conservatives are like termites or black mold. Once they’re really in the foundation, blow the this [mess] up and start over, because you’ll never get them out.

That may sound harsh, and it may even strike some readers as anti-religious or anti-church. But DougJ’s comment struck me as remarkably similar to a quote AZspot recently highlighted from Episcopal priest and author Robert Farrar Capon:

The church can’t rise because it refuses to drop dead. The fact that it’s dying is of no use whatsoever: dying is simply the world’s most uncomfortable way of remaining alive. If you are to be raised from the dead, the only thing that can make you a candidate is to go all the way into death. Death, not life, is God’s recipe for fixing up the world.

Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.

Click here to view the embedded video.

http://feministing.com/2012/05/17/white-births-outnumbered-by-non-white-now-what/

http://feministing.com/?p=48430

(Spotted by my friend Karlos Gauna Schmeider from the Center for Media Justice–two headlines, backwards ideology and the new moment on race in the US)

That inevitable moment that conservative Americans have been dreading is finally here. According to census data births of white babies has been surpassed by brown babies. The AP reports that for the first time in US history Latino, Asian and black babies make up more than 50% of births,

William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution who analyzed the census data, noted that government debates over immigration enforcement may now be less pressing, given slowing growth. “The current congressional and Supreme Court interest in reducing immigration — and the concerns especially about low-skilled and undocumented Hispanic immigration — represent issues that could well be behind us,” he said.

Minorities made up roughly 2.02 million, or 50.4 percent of U.S. births in the 12-month period ending July 2011. That compares with 37 percent in 1990.

In all, 348 of the nation’s 3,143 counties, or 1 in 9, have minority populations across all age groups that total more than 50 percent. In a sign of future U.S. race and ethnic change, the number of counties reaching the tipping point increases to more than 690, or nearly 1 in 4, when looking only at the under age 5 population.

The counties in transition include Maricopa (Phoenix), Ariz.; King (Seattle), Wash.; Travis (Austin),Texas; and Palm Beach, Fla., where recent Hispanic births are driving the increased diversity among children. Also high on the list are suburban counties such as Fairfax, Va., just outside the nation’s capital, and Westchester, N.Y., near New York City, where more open spaces are a draw for young families who are increasingly minority.

The actual impact and currency of “white culture” is no longer that relevant, it’s not the culture, but a sub-culture. The cultural landscape we grew up in and certainly the one we have experienced most recently privileges people like Jay-z over Tim McGraw. American culture is a much more diverse beast, then our diversity numbers — with people like Kanye holding the thrown (wince). But we already knew that.

But what’s happened in popular culture has only slowly trickled down to our actual lives and more importantly to law enforcement and legislation, where “white power” is exactly that. The Trayvon Martin situation still happened–a sign that things haven’t changed that much. (But the response to his murder was tremendous–a sign that things have changed somewhat).

Calling people of color the minority  has allowed politicians to not only make us interest groups homogenizing our experiences–but also keeps us separate from the American experience, barring our access to some of the same privileges afforded to white Americans.

So, what happens when the minority becomes the majority? Are we still an interest group with shared experiences working to get included in the mainstream, or are we just Americans? The inability to deal with and fear of the growing number of people of color is most apparent in some of the violent anti-immigration, pro-racial profiling legislation we’ve seen in recent years in places like Alabama, Georgia and of course, Arizona.

The inevitable road to increased diversity has brought about some of the most unsavory elements of “white power” rhetoric we have seen in generations–people that should never be given access to the mic are using direct race-baiting to discredit our President (who’s clearly now much more all-American then we ever realized!), or lashing out with super anti-immigrant or anti-black rhetoric. The anxiety some white Americans feel around the growing majority of people in this country not being white is pretty obvious.

The fear is not just foolish, it’s outdated and won’t stand the test of time. Inevitably, even the most conservative places will reach their tipping point (many already have) and leadership will have to face that most of their constituents don’t look like their own children. Conservatives have already exposed themselves for being racists–the question is how long can they cling to that rhetoric?

And ultimately, is it this very same rhetoric about the declining influence of white people that is being used to propel the war on women? Is the hope that we can force an entire generation to make more white babies? If that is the case it is not only awful, sexist and scary, but short-sighted since so many of the cutbacks we are seeing pass impact young women of color from getting access to contraception or abortion.

Also, comments to the NYTimes article pictured above are….interesting (and scary).

http://feministing.com/2012/05/17/help-fund-feministings-next-retreat/

http://feministing.com/?p=48428

The Feministing crew is currently planning our annual retreat for June. It’s incredible how much we can get done when given the opportunity to meet face to face. Work that might take a year to hash out over the interwebs happens almost instantly when we’re in the same space. Since Feministing doesn’t have offices (some day, I hope) and the crew lives in a few different cities, a weekend together working on the blog is vital for moving our work forward.

In order to make that happen–we need your help to fund the 2012 retreat. We keep costs way down by getting meeting space donated and crashing on each other’s couches (we’ll be meeting in New York where more than half the crew lives). Here’s what we need–$2000 for airfare, $1000 for six meals and snacks for everybody, and $100 for meeting supplies.

You can donate to help fund the retreat by clicking here or on the “Support Us” tab on the left side of the page.

This year’s retreat is going to have a big focus on sustainability, crucial for an incredibly under-funded labor of love like Feministing. At past retreats we’ve had training on social justice issues that has improved our blogging, figured out ways of scheduling our time that work best, hatched projects like the Campus blog, and worked on some of the major redesigns of the site that have happened in the past few years. And of course, getting together strengthens our relationships with each other, making us a better group of bloggers and feminists.

Thanks to everyone who donated the last time we asked for money and those of you that continue to support our work. It helps us so much!

http://feministing.com/2012/05/17/notes-from-a-bitch-making-the-case-for-sue-shear-by-trying-to-cut-funding-for-it/

http://feministing.com/?p=48337

Let’s jump right on in, shall we?

I’ve long said that people need to keep a close watch on their state legislature.  I’m a Missourian and my state Assembly meets for five months each year. That means five months of watching the Republicans who control both the House and Senate file bills to restrict access to reproductive health care, drug test people who receive food assistance, and cut funding for social programs to the bone.

Even with that wretched history, I was surprised by a Republican amendment to cut funding for the Sue Shear Institute created to increase the number of women in government, civic and policymaking roles.

In my defense, my surprise comes from the fact that the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life has had many a Republican woman participate in programs and mentor program participants. And I’m not talking about moderate Republicans. No, I’m talking about unquestionably conservative Republican women participating in the Sue Shear Institute such U.S. Rep. JoAnn Emerson, former State Treasurer Sarah Steelman, former U.S. Ambassador Ann Wagner, and former Missouri House Speaker Catherine Hanaway.

I should note that the institute is named after Democrat Sue Shear, who was the longest serving woman in the Missouri House with 26 years in office.

Yeah, I was surprised but that emotion quickly gave way to amazement.

Republican Rep. Sue Allen just made the case for why we need the Sue Shear Institute by sponsor the amendment to cut funds for it.

I’m serious!

If Allen had been through the program she’d know that Missouri lacks a true representation of women in public life and why that’s not a good thing, she would have heard of the many Republican woman who support and participated in the program, and she’d have learned how to research an institution receiving public funding so she could avoid making a fool of herself by making baseless accusations.

Let’s hope the Assembly accepts this public example of why we need the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life and abandons plans to cut funding.

Missouri’s legislative session ends this week.

Let the countdown begin!

Some of you have found this already. (Good God! So this is what it's like to write in a currently popular fandom, even if not for the juggernaut pairing. I can only imagine how many people would read this by now if it was about Steve and Tony.) For those of you who haven't, I wrote a short story about Clint and Natasha (Hawkeye and Black Widow.)

Shortly after the end of the end of the movie, Nick Fury sends the two of them on a very easy mission, just to make sure everything's all right between them and Clint is fit for duty. The mission is a cakewalk. Some other things aren't. Rated PG; nothing more disturbing or explicit than is seen or implied in the movie. Cakewalk.

ETA: Oh, and if you've already read it, I have a theory about Natasha's greatest fear which was impossible to get into the story itself due to it being from Clint's POV. Ask if you're curious.

Crossposted to http://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/1038121.html. Comment here or there.

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/17/lowest-difficulty-setting-now-on-kotaku/

http://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=18609

Hey there! Wanted to comment on “Lowest Difficulty Setting” but missed before I closed up the comments? You’re in luck! Kotaku has reprinted the post, and their comments are open! Fire away!

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/17/journey-to-planet-joco-at-tor-com/

http://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=18606

Over at Tor.com, I’m part of a two-week festival of all things Jonathan Coulton, in a feature called “Journey to Planet Joco.” JoCo is starting a tour starting on June 1, and so I sat down to talk with him about those songs of his with a science fictional bent to them, a journey that culminates in a very special event: On May 29, we will debut a brand new song by Coulton. And this new song? It’s awesome (yes, I’ve heard it).

The first installment is up now, in which we talk about songwriting, story telling, and science fiction. You can hear an audio version of our interview or read a transcription. We’ll be talking every day through May 29th. Check it out and tell your friends. It’s as much fun as you can have with your ears.

After reading John Scalzi’s post on SWM being the lowest difficulty setting in the game of life, and then reading the 800+ comments, I figured I’d join the crowd who decided to write a response. So I’ve dug up some information for those commenters who seemed to completely lose their minds…

I’ve done my best to find reliable, objective sources for all of the following information. Like Scalzi’s post, the following is focused on the United States, though the trends certainly aren’t exclusive to the U.S.

“[B]lack males receive [prison] sentences that are approximately 10% longer than comparable white males with those at the top of the sentencing distribution facing even larger disparities.” -Racial Disparity in Federal Criminal Charging and Its Sentencing Consequences, 2012.

“The ratio of women’s and men’s median annual earnings was 77.0 for full-time, year-round workers in 2009 … African American women earned on average only 61.9 cents for every dollar earned by white men, and Hispanic women earned only 52.9 cents for each dollar earned by white men.” -The Gender Wage Gap: 2009.

Poverty rates in 2009, from Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States (2009).

• For non-Hispanic Whites: 9.4%
• For Asians: 12.5%
• For Blacks: 25.3%

Hate Crimes in 2010, from the U. S. Department of Justice Hate Crime Statistics.

• Race: 69.8% were motivated by anti-black bias, compared to 18.2% that stemmed from anti-white bias.
• Religion: 65.4% were anti-Jewish and 13.2% were anti-Islamic.

At birth, the average life expectancy of a white baby in the United States is four years longer than the average life expectancy of a black baby. -U. S. Census Bureau, Life Expectancy by Sex, Age, and Race: 2008.

“30.4% of Hispanics, 17% of blacks, and 9.9% of whites do not have health insurance.” -Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Nearly 1 in 5 women in the United States has been raped in her lifetime (18.3%) … Approximately 1 in 71 men in the United States (1.4%) reported having been raped in his lifetime.” -National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (2010).

“Nearly 1 in 2 women (44.6%) and 1 in 5 men (22.2%) experienced sexual violence victimization other than rape at some point in their lives.” -National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (2010).

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth “are nearly one and a half to seven times more likely than non-LGB youth to have reported attempting suicide.” -Suicide Risk and Prevention for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth (2008).

39.3% of white first-time, full-time college students complete a degree within four years, compared to 20.4% of black students, 26.4% of Hispanic students, 42.8% of Asian/Pacific Islander students, and 18.8% for Native American students. -National Center for Education Statistics (2010).

The event dropout rate for white high school students in 2007-2008 was 2.8%, compared to 6.7% for black students, 6.0% for Hispanic, 2.4% for Asian/Pacific Islander, and 7.3% for Native American students. -National Center for Education Statistics.

U.S. population vs. representation in Congress. “In the total population, whites make up 66.0%, Hispanics are 15.1%, Blacks are 12.8%, APIA (Asian and Pacific Islander American) are 5.1%, and AIAN (American Indians and Alaskan Natives) are 1.2%. In Congress, whites make up 85.8%, Hispanics are 5.8%, Blacks are 7.5%, APIA are 1.7%, and AIAN are 0.2%. Men are 49% of the total population, while women are 51%. In Congress, men are 82% and women are 18%.” -Ragini Kathail, Race, Gender, and the US Congress (2009).

There are only four openly gay/lesbian members of Congress (0.7%). -Congress gets 4th openly gay member (2011).

#

I could go on, but this seems like enough to present a glimpse of the playing field.

Now, if you say, “I don’t care about race/gender/orientation. I only look at the individual!” these are some of the things you’re looking away from.

If you say, “Why are you attacking straight white men?” then let me reiterate that I’m presenting facts and research. Are you suggesting that reality is attacking straight white men?

If you say, “But I’m a SWM and my life wasn’t easy,” I’ll tell you to take Remedial Logic. Nobody here or in Scalzi’s original post suggested otherwise.

If you say, “Women have it easier because they can use sex!” I’ll probably just ban you for being an idiot.

If you ask, “Well what do you want me to do about it?” then I’ll say I want you to be aware. I want you to recognize the problems. I want you to take some responsibility — not for historical injustices you weren’t personally a part of — but for trying to make this country better for everyone.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/CuteOverload/~3/Ha0uLCD5LxE/

http://cuteoverload.com/?p=72928

You better eat your blorpberries so you can grow up to be big and strong like Lillian here.

You might also get your picture on Cute Overload!

Gee, that’s just swell, Erin M.!

http://feministing.com/2012/05/17/combat-exclusion-for-women-should-no-longer-be-the-rule/

By Tiseme Zegeye, ACLU Women’s Rights Project & Elayne Weiss, ACLU Washington Legislative Office

Earlier this week Huffington Post reported, "American women have served in the military since there has been an America to serve." And while it is widely acknowledged that women are already engaging in combat, American servicewomen continue to be officially excluded from being "assigned" to direct ground combat positions by the so-called combat exclusion rule. This rule prevents women’s service from being fully recognized and stifles their career advancement.

Slow progress has been made towards ending sex discrimination in the armed forces. In February of this year, the Department of Defense announced that it would modify the combat exclusion rule to open up certain previously restricted jobs at the battalion level — though not in the infantry, armor, or special operations forces — and to remove a rule that prevented women from serving in positions that were required to "co-locate" with combat units. This past Monday, the Army announced that it will begin to implement DOD’s new policy. And just last month, the Marine Corps announced that it plans to allow enlisted Marine women access to infantry training, and attend the previously male-only Infantry Officers Course in Quantico, Va. (women will still not be permitted to serve in the infantry once they complete training).

Yet, while the new policy’s implementation will mean that women are now eligible for 14,000 jobs that were once exclusively male, women are still barred from more than 250,000 positions on account of their sex.

The steps DOD has taken are necessary, but far from sufficient. Since the 1970s, the ACLU has been fighting to end discrimination against women in the military. Excluding women from combat based solely on their sex is grounded in part on broad and outdated stereotypes, including the notion that women’s role is not to kill or put in harm’s way and the belief that women are not physically able to engage in combat.

The combat exclusion rule also ignores the reality of modern warfare — there are no frontlines in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In fact, women are already serving in combat, and at present, 139 women have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

While we recognize the progress DOD has made in the last couple of months, we urge the department to do away with this discriminatory policy that presupposes women to be unqualified to serve in combat roles and harms their military careers in the process. It’s time for our government to start properly recognizing the service and sacrifice of our brave women in uniform. Let’s hope they don’t have to wait too much longer to get the credit they deserve.

We’d like to hear your story if you are a servicewoman or veteran and you want to serve in a combat arms unit or attend a combat arms school or training program. Please contact us at (212) 519-7858 or womensrights@aclu.org.

All information will be treated as confidential. This is not a solicitation or an offer by the ACLU to represent you. We cannot promise that any information you provide will lead to any specific action on our part.

http://feministing.com/2012/05/17/that-awful-moment-when-the-house-implicitly-endorses-violence-against-women/

http://feministing.com/?p=48414

House Republicans have stooped low in their all-out war on women by turning an issue that has never been bipartisan–that violence against women is a bad thing–into a partisan one voting 222-206 in support of a ridiculous, callous and watered down version of the Violence Against Women Act. As Vanessa noted Tuesday, it was slated to be voted on Wednesday with the hope that they wouldn’t pass the watered down version the House produced–but we should only be so hopeful.

This bill denies protection of undocumented immigrants, Native/indigenous people and LGBT victims of violence. Distinguishing these populations that are actually highly vulnerable and susceptible to violence is uniquely callous. What could motivate such thinking? Well, Amanda looked through the list of lobbyists in support of this particular version of the bill and let’s just say–they are exactly the kind of people that would love to legalize violence against women.

She writes at Pandagon,

Prior to this year, even Republicans by and large felt that tacitly endorsing moderate levels of wife-beating was a bridge too far, but since their new motto is, “Bitches: Fuck ‘Em”, I suppose this sort of thing was inevitable. Right Wing Watch has a piece up about the lobbyists who influenced this vote. These lobbyists, led by the anti-victim group Concerned Women for America, is a real cadre of hateful people. The coalition released a letter supporting the watered-down bill, and it was signed by a rather notorious wife-beater who ran for office by claiming his ex-wife endorsed him, which she did not. There’s also a group that represents men who purchase mail order brides. They’re concerned that the bill would allow women who have been secured through their services to divorce husbands who beat them without being deported. (A favorite tactic of abusers is to marry immigrants, often secured through these services, and then terrorize them with the threat of deportation if they don’t take their beatings like good girls.) These are the people that the Republicans are listening to.

Only a party desperately clinging to any semblance of relevance would allow this kind of thinking to make it this far in the legislative process. You can’t give MRA’s the light of day–they are called trolls for a reason!

Twenty-three House Republicans voted against the bill, 6 democrats voted for it and the White House has said they will veto the house version if it makes it to the President’s desk. Via.

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/17/lowest-difficulty-setting-follow-up/

http://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=18603

It’s been a couple of days since I’ve posted the “Lowest Difficulty Setting” piece, and it’s been fun and interesting watching the Intarweebs basically explode over it, especially the subclass of Straight White Males who cannot abide the idea that their lives play out on a fundamentally lower difficulty setting than everyone else’s, and have spun themselves up in tight, angry circles because I dared to suggest that they do. Those dudes are cracking me up, and also making me a little sad.

There have been some general classes of statement/questions about the piece both on the site and elsewhere on the Internet, that I would like to address, so I’ll do that here. Understand I am paraphrasing the questions/statements. In no particular order:

1. I fundamentally disagree with every single thing you said!

That’s fine. It happens.

2. Your metaphor/analogy is good, except for [insert thing that commenter finds not good about the metaphor/analogy]

Well, yes. Metaphors are not perfect; it’s why they’re metaphors and not the thing the metaphor describes. Likewise analogies break down. I thought the “lowest difficulty setting” description worked well enough for what I wanted to say, but I don’t think it’s perfect. “Perfect” wasn’t what I was aiming for. And of course, if you don’t think it’s the right metaphor/analogy, that’s fine. Please, make a different and better one — the more ways we can make a general point to people who need to understand that general point, the better chance they will listen.

3. Your description should have put wealth/class as part of the difficulty setting.

Nope. Money and class are both hugely important and can definitely compensate for quite a lot, which I have of course noted in the entry itself. But they belong in the stats category because wealth and class are not an inherent part of one’s personal nature — and in the US particularly, part of our cultural sorting behavior — in the manner that race, gender and sexuality are (note “inherent” here does not necessarily mean “immutable,” but that’s a conversation I’m not going to go into great detail about right now). You can disagree, of course. But speaking as someone who has been at both the bottom and the top of the wealth and class spectrum here in the US, I think I have enough personal knowledge on the matter to say it belongs where I put it.

4.I’m a straight white male and my life isn’t easy! My life sucks! Your “lowest difficulty setting” doesn’t account for that!

That’s actually fully accounted for in the entry. Go back and read it again.

This one’s a stand-in for all the complaints about the entry that come primarily either from not reading the entry, or not reading what was actually written in the entry in preference to a version of the entry that exists solely in that one person’s head, and which is not the entry I wrote. Please, gentlemen, read what is there, not what you think is there, or what you believe must be there because you know you already disagree with what I have to say, no matter what it is I am saying.

5. What about affirmative action (and/or other similar programs)? It just proves SWMs don’t have it easy anymore!

Asserting that programs designed to counteract decades of systematic discrimination are proof that Straight White Males are not operating on the lowest difficulty setting in the game of life is not the winning argument you apparently believe it is. I’ll let you try to figure out why that is on your own. Likewise, anecdotal examples of a straight white guy getting the short end of the stick in some manner do not suggest that, therefore, it’s hard out there for all straight white men all the time.

6. Your piece is racist and sexist.

This particular comment was lobbed at me primarily from aggrieved straight white males. Leaving aside entirely that the piece was neither, let me just say that I think it’s delightful that these straight white males are now engaged on issues of racism and sexism. It would be additionally delightful if they were engaged on issues of racism and sexism even when they did not feel it was being applied to them — say, for example,when it’s regarding people who historically have most often had to deal with racism and sexism (i.e., not white males). Keep at it, straight white males! You’re on the path now!

7. I feel this piece is an attack on straight white men.

You need to re-calibrate your definition of “attack,” then, because it’s depressingly (or hilariously) out of whack. Suggesting all straight white men should be defenstrated into a courtyard covered with spikes would be an attack. Noting that straight white men operate at the lowest difficulty setting in life is an observation.

Otherwise, in a general sense,  when people point out the things straight white men get on credit (or don’t have to deal with), the unspoken part of that is not “and that’s why we plan to burn all you bastards in a big screaming pile when the revolution comes,” it’s “hey, just so you know.” Because you should know. It’s not about blame, it’s about knowledge. Stop assuming it’s about blame. Paranoid and hypersensitive is no way to go through life.

8.  You did not lay out in exhaustive factual detail, with graphs and charts, your assertion that straight white men operate at the lowest difficulty setting in our culture.

Also generally lobbed at me by aggrieved straight white men. And indeed I did not. Also, when I write about tripping over my shoelaces and falling on my ass, I do not preface the comment with a comprehensive discussion of the theory of gravity. For two reasons: One, it’s not needed because for anyone but committed gravity-deniers, the theory of gravity is obvious and taken as read, and two, that’s not the focus of the entry. In the case of the “lowest difficulty setting” entry, I took what I see as the obvious advantages to being straight, white and male in our culture as read. One may of course argue with that assertion, and some did in the previous comment thread, but I have to say I’ve generally found those arguments to be less than compelling (see point six, above).

9. In your comment thread with the article, you censored people who disagreed with you.

I indeed malleted quite a few people in that comment thread. Most of them disagreed with me philosophically on the issue under discussion. They were also being assholes. They were malleted for the latter, not the former. Who gets to judge when someone’s being an asshole here? Why, I do. Because it’s my site. A quick look through the comment thread in question shows that quite a few people, who disagreed with my ideas to varying levels of strenuousness, had their comments posted unmolested. That’s because they were generally polite to others in the thread, did not lead with their asses, and their comments were not generally dripping with racism/sexism/condescension/stupidity. This is all covered in the comment policy, which is linked to on every page of the site.

Now, people may be upset that in addition to deleting people’s comments, I also mocked them when I deleted their comments. But, you know, when you show up on my site and decide to shit all over the carpet, I’m not going to be nice to you. Also, this.

10. I am never going to buy anything you write ever again.

I don’t care.

11. Not every straight white man thinks what you wrote is wrong.

Of course. Noting that some straight white men are having difficulty accepting the idea they operate on the lowest difficulty setting in life doesn’t mean that all straight white men do, or that any particular straight white men will experience said difficulties. Alternately, there are a lot of straight white men who think my premise is wrong to a greater or lesser extent, but who can express that disagreement cogently, and even forcefully, without additionally coming across as a five-year-old having a tantrum because he’s been told he has to share his toys. Straight white men, like any group, have all sorts of personalities.

12. You wrote the article and pointed out the straight white men live life on the lowest difficulty setting. Okay, fine. What do I/we do next?

Well, that’s up to you, isn’t it? What I’m doing is pointing out a thing. What you do with that thing is your decision.

That said, here’s what I do: recognize it, and work to make it so the more difficult settings in life becomes closer to the one I get to run through life on — by making those less difficult, mind you, not making mine more so.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/CuteOverload/~3/AfgBFvTJBTQ/

http://cuteoverload.com/?p=72935

Aw, if you’re going to wake up an adorable little gremlin fruit bat in the middle of its’ night, one little snack wouldn’t hurt, right?

Fruit bats are also known as Megabats, or Flying Foxes. How about a nice Waldorf Salad or Ambrosia, Allison D.?

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/16/things-that-pretty-much-suck/

http://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=18600

My absence from the Internet was a bit longer than I had anticipated today, for one genuinely depressing reason: I left my travel bag in  the taxi that took me to my hotel from the airport, and that bag included my computer and some other stuff (including my car key). So my day was spent procuring alternate computing resources (say hello to my new cheap netbook) and generally being a bit pissed off.

Before you ask: I have no idea what cab it was that brought me in, its number or anything else. If anyone in the DC area can tell me which cab companies use black cabs (regular cars, not limos) I would be obliged. Otherwise, I’m pretty much stuck hoping the cabbie who drove me around remembers who I am or otherwise uses the various clues in the bag (the computer that has my name on it when one tries to log on, the books with my name on the cover, etc) to locate me. Whiile not assuming anything about my cabbie’s honesty, let’s just say I’m really expecting him to be a super sleuth, although I’d be happy to be wrong.

In any event: DC, I’m not feeling the love, I have to say. That is all.

"I fear that lucid dreaming may be a form of censorship. One must face horrors in dreams."

—from The Primal Screamer by Nick Blinko

Yesterday I hiked up Little Pine Mountain to Happy Hollow by way of the Santa Cruz trail.  It's a nice route with a few sketchy bits where someone has left a couple shovels so that you can shovel out the trail of the loose rocks falling down on it if you are feeling very energetic.  Or scared of the way it shifts, which would be totally reasonable.  I thought about going down by the road, but it seemed to be a bit over 10 miles, which is a bit much.  I decided to go back by way of the spring that should be a smidge over a mile away by way of the spring trail.  I'd brought my pump along for the first time when day hiking and thought it would be nice if I had more water and I might as well use it.  So I skipped the connector back to Santa Cruz trail and continued along the road which should have shortly had another trail leading off to the left.  Very soon after skipping that trail, I heard a noise that very nearly had me jumping out of my skin.  I looked as saw something a bit like this that I have sketched today.



Off the side of the road some 6 feet and sliding behind an oak branch resting on the ground was the thick body of an old rattlesnake with at least 4 inches of rattle shaking determinedly.  It slithered along with that rattle held high and quickly vanished behind the tree, but it kept on shaking its thing.  I remembered to breath and went along my way which in no way intersected with its way.  I could still hear the rattle at least 50 feet off.  It was not stopping.

As I went, I did not see the trail to the spring, so I came down by the road after all.  The long, steady downhill road.  There's something to be said for the larger grades allowed on trails.  The middle where it flattened and occasionally climbed was quite pleasant, but most of it just went down down down.  Going that way did afford me a view that was quite different from the one offered on the way up.  When I finished, the GPS had clocked 18.0 miles.  I hurt a bit, but a lot of it seemed to be gone with simply sitting down in my nice, soft bucket seat even before getting the car started.  It's not too bad the next day either, although I expected it to be.  I could use some stretching, though.

Current Mood: bouncy

I took my little car out to the forest to hike to a fire lookout that is still standing on Thorn Point.  The ranger stopped at the gate to open it as I came around the corner on Lockwood to get there.  If I'd paid a little more attention to the map on the board at the start of the road, I'd have seen that a bit of the route I was going down was considered a jeep trail.  I had looked for information on the state of the road, but only found that the third stream crossing can be deep and stopping before it adds a little more than a mile to the hike, round trip.  Well, it wasn't the stream crossings that were worrying.  I had a good look at them since they were nice and clear with no one coming up before me and was able to pick out a good route and cross each one.  However, there were some ditches made by previous running water going perpendicular to the road that were a little tough.  Well, one was a lot tough.  And that was where the road was still supposed to be passable.

I parked at Thorn Meadows and started the hike up to the point.  First there is an easy bit through a canyon, then some steady climb up to the point.  I quickly startled three bears.  A little one went running through the brush and I only knew about it from the sound as mama looked back, then she went grunting after with her folds of skin rippling elaborately around her.  Another little one was up the hill by some rocks.  At first it tried to hide behind a bit of tree, then it picked its way carefully along the edge of the dirt slope and rock wall, clambered over some rocks, and disappeared into some trees on the far side.

Up at the point, the register indicated that bear startling is actually pretty common as previous people warned later ones that the bears like to sleep by the trail in the canyon.  The closed road didn't entirely keep people out, there was one entry from a month ago.  The rest of the recent entries were pretty much weekly up to the end of November.  I climbed up the tower, having a hard time getting the trap door open due to some of the wood around it, not to any effort to lock it.  From there, there is a little bit better view of the surrounding terrain.  Of course, that is the whole point of a fire lookout.



To the south was a reminder of what I'd left behind in coming out to this hike.  Thick marine layer was coming in through the mountain range in the distance.  It wouldn't even have been the first range that the fog had to climb.  While sketching, I was visited by an insect that looked every bit like a deep green honey bee that I wonder what was.  It flew off and eventually I climbed back down without so much difficulty.



I sketched the tower with its super steep steps and still solid steel construction settled on concrete to make its base level.  The water tank was still there.  There would have been a gas tank of some kind as there was a gas regulator and gas stove in the cabin.

Heading back, I looked out for the bears, but they didn't feel like being startled by me again.  Instead, there was a bobcat that was messing about in a sandy wash that took off in a quick bound to get away.  I've actually never seen a bobcat before.  It seemed so much smaller than I expect.  Getting back to the car, I found I'd been joined by a big pickup and a couple guys.  The passenger told me the driver had just about turned around at the water.  He had clearly been teasing his friend since they saw my little car at the end of this road.  The creek crossings were no longer so nice and clear, but I knew how I went through the first time and it only mattered on that one crossing I'd been warned about.

Guess I've been rather lazy about posting...

Well, I went out into the yard and put down a bit of color on a page in my sketch book.



The bottle brush seems to post blooms every month except February, so it's easy to catch it sprouting red bristles.  The rather large dwarf orange has a few more months in which it is short on fruit, but still is easy to catch overloaded with sweet.  The poppies only last about a month, so got to catch them while they're strong.  I've started a square foot of poppies as well, but don't seem to be doing a good job of finishing it.

Current Mood: procrastinatory

FANTASTIC FICTION at KGB reading series, hosts

Ellen Datlow and Matthew Kressel

present:

Jack O’Connell’s first novel, Box Nine, won the Mysterious Press Discovery Award. His second novel, Wireless, was chosen by the Los Angeles Times as one of the top ten crime novels of 1993. O’Connell is also the author of The Skin Palace and Word Made Flesh. His latest novel, The Resurrectionist, was chosen by Amazon.com as one of the top-10 SF novels of 2008. The winner of Le prix Mystère de la critique and Le Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire in France, the novel was also nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award..

&

E.C. Myers, whose first novel, Fair Coin, was called "pure awesome crack" by io9, is also a recent contributor to the Directory of World Cinema: Japan 2, edited by John Berra and Spec-tacular: Fantasy Favorites from Raven Electrick Ink. He also blogs weekly re-watches of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes with Torie Atkinson at theviewscreen.com. His next novel, Quantum Coin, will be published by Pyr in fall 2012.


Wednesday June 20th, 7pm at
KGB Bar, 85 East 4th Street (just off 2nd Ave, upstairs.)
www.kgbfantasticfiction.org
Subscribe to our mailing list:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kgbfantasticfiction/
Readings are free
Forward to friends at your own discretion.


Books will be available for purchase from the readers

Sponsored in part by Cemetery Dance Publications

http://www.myspace.com//loismcmasterbujold/blog/545737547

Yes, I will be there.  With bells (and a deep purple velvet gown glvalentine made me buy at Second Time Around right before ICFA) on.  Not really doing much of anything but hanging out at the bar and chewing my (deep purple) nails and seeing the sights at the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress in the company of ellen_kushner and possibly lareinenoire (if she can take the time off from grading papers).  But I will certainly be at the following events:

- Friday, 5:30-7:00pm: Book Signing.

- Friday, 9:00-11:00pm: Reception! 

- Saturday, 6:30pm-10:00pm: The Nebula Reception, Banquet, and Awards. I enjoy these things so much more when I don't have, er, a dog in the fight?  Skin in the game?  A book nominated?  Yes, that's it.  I'm figuring I haven't a prayer, with so many wonderfully strong contenders in the line-up, but my nerves haven't quite got the memo.  Still, win or lose, thanks to Genevieve, I have a great dress to do it in. 

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2012/05/16/a-butterfly-with-hiccups/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=7651

Jeff Dunn at Internet Monk quotes from R.A. Dickey’s new memoir, Wherever I Wind Up, and sees spiritual truth in Dickey’s discussion of his signature pitch.

Dickey writes:

The knuckleball is the only pitch in baseball that works by doing nothing. Curveballs curve. Cutters cut. Sinkers sink. The knuckleball? You want it to float to the plate, rotation-free, and let the laws of entropy or aerodynamics or whatever else is in play take over from there, the air rushing around it, the seams creating a drag, the ball wobbling and wiggling and shimmying and shaking. Or not. Sometimes the knuckleball will be unhittable and sometimes it will be uncatchable, but rarely is it predictable. You can throw two knuckleballs with the identical release, the identical motion, in the identical place, and once might go one way and the second might go another way. It’s one of the first things you have to accept as a knuckleballer: the pitch has a mind of its own. You either embrace it for what it is — a pitch that is reliant on an amalgam of forces both seen and unseen — or you allow it to drive you half out of your mind.

I embrace it.

“Oh, that’ll preach big time,” Dunn writes. Very true. But, as far as I understand it, it also seems kind of Zen.

Dickey was on NPR’s “Fresh Air” last month for a fascinating interview with host Terry Gross.

(And speaking of Terry Gross and “Fresh Air,” don’t miss Gross co-starring in Mike Birbiglia’s fine short film — less than 7 minutes — “Fresh Air 2: 2 Fresh, 2 Furious.”)

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

*ahem*

Has anyone out there been waiting for Shadow Unit in physical paper-type form?

You have?

Oh. Okay, then. That's good.

Because the first volume is here.

*exits, grinning*

(This volume is the first half of Season One. It'll be available on Amazon.com within a week, and elsewhere within two months. Season One, volume two will be available within the month; I'll let you know.)

Current Mood: squee!

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/CuteOverload/~3/4R0C2jji8r4/

http://cuteoverload.com/?p=71438

From the Moors of Scotland to the Chattawoogawassee Swamps of Arkansas, history is full of tales of strange beasts lurking at the edges of our perception. CO believes the time has come to welcome them, befriend them, and then most importantly, scream and run away!

It wuz all hairy with big feet and clarws! We ain’t never seen nuthin’ like it before, Josh N.!

Remember the other day, when new writer Mandy DeGeit found her story substantially rewritten, with errors introduced, by a small press editor/publisher Anthony Giangregorio, who proceeded to act very unprofessionally when DeGeit complained about the added bestiality and outrageous introduced copy errors (e.g., the story is now called "She Make's Me Smile")?

Well, another writer, Alyn Day also came forward to describe a story she had placed with Giangregorio being substantially rewritten and retitled without her permission or even awareness.

And apparently, Giangregorio is upset enough about these revelations to invite himself over to Day's house. A Facebook screencap-you'll see that the conversation begins last year, and was updated 22 hours ago:



Is there a way to read this as something other than a threat against Day-especially as Giangregorio had previously told DeGeit that he would only communicate through lawyers? I tend to think not. Please spread the word.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2012/05/16/on-christianity-and-marriage-equality-part-1/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=7647

While I was off watching lots of exciting rugby, many smart people were writing about the fight for marriage equality and full civil rights for LGBT people and, specifically, the role of American Christianity in that struggle.

Here are several smart recent posts on the topic.

Bert Montgomery: “The Church and the New Civil Rights Movement”

We are in the midst of another renewal; we are in the midst of another set of leaders pleading with the guardians of the Christian establishment to open the life of the church to the power of the Holy Spirit already at work; and some of the same words are being exchanged and variations of the same expressions of hatred are emerging in response.

There are a growing number of “gay churches” and welcoming and affirming groups pleading with the larger Christian community to recognize the movement of the Holy Spirit among the Gay & Lesbian community. And, many of the long-standing institutionalized “straight churches” are actively resisting the work of God among those whom the religious guardians insist are not worthy.

Joseph War III: “Can We Trust Christians? A Question for LGBT People and Straight Allies”

Homophobic Christian culture is fueled by two sources: homophobic and conflicted people. But both of these groups can change. Rather than discount out of hand people who are either quietly conflicted or loudly hateful, we need to continue to challenge them on spiritual and moral terms, but terms that support faith and LGBT equality going hand-in-hand.

Conflicted people of faith along with already LGBT-supportive Christians have the power to eradicate homophobic Christianity. If for no other reason, this is why we must support “conflicted” individuals as they journey towards LGBT equality. Just as President Obama needed to “evolve” on this issue, so will countless others. Our support of this process is essential for true change to occur.

Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite: “Obama gets better: Faith, family and LGBT equality”

This is how people evolve on LGBT equality. You ask yourself whether your faith supports prejudice, or the love of God and neighbor. You know family and friends who are LGBT and your love and friendship for them is unchanged, or sometimes even becomes even stronger as you realize how they are discriminated against.

And if you are a person of decency and courage, you become a vocal ally.

Dianne E. Anderson: “What Are We Really Asking?”

It is impossible to affirm for a homosexual friend that they are human and yet insist that their desires, their attractions, their longings – a large part of their being – are sinful and an affront to God. If I am to affirm that my own sexuality is an intertwined part of me, a vital building block in the created order that is my being, then I must do the same for those friends and neighbors who are gay.

Many churches skirt around this issue of identity by insisting that it is merely the act of homosexuality that is sinful, and therefore, you can be gay, if you just refrain from ever acting on it.

This, too, is incoherent, for what is “acting on it”? Surely it cannot simply be the act of one being engaged in sexual activity with another, because I do not have to have sex in order to “act” on my heterosexuality.

Jimmy Spencer Jr.: “Let Them Eat Cake”

I realize as I’m watching current events unfold that it’s difficult for a segment of Christians to recognize this because we’ve become so entrenched that we own the exclusive right to dictate terms to others in our society, and anyone who challenges this exclusive right is obviously oppressing us! We’re uncomfortably comfortable demanding other faiths, oriented people, races, and genders obey our specific personal brands of Jesus, which sadly, violates the very pattern of humanity Jesus shows us.

… We’re all witnessing, before our very eyes, those days racing toward a very swift culmination. The days when Christians dictate all the terms of engagement in society by crafting all the laws to reflect our specific spiritual practices are coming to a quick end.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2012/05/16/crouch-touch-pause-engage/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=7642

I’m digging out from under the backlog of email and catch-up reading from a few days away from the computer, but here’s an update on where I was the past several days.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Lou Rabito, “Queens of the ruck: Downingtown girls go to nationals“:

They flew to Ireland to test their game. They will play for their first national title this weekend. And then they will compete in the first state championships.

The Lady Dingoes, the under-19 girls’ team from the Downingtown Rugby Football Club, clearly have taken off.

… The Downingtown girls play in the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union and dominated the seven-team Central Division this season. Buoyed by one of the largest rosters in the girls’ league – 44 deep, Dziunycz said, with not much drop-off from top to bottom – and their experience, the Lady Dingoes won their six division matches by a cumulative 247-7.

Saturday and Sunday, they will be one of eight teams, and the only one from the Philadelphia area, in USA Rugby’s High School National Invitational Tournament at Stanford University.

… “It is a rough sport, I guess, but when I think of rugby, I don’t think of violence,” [said] Courtney DeFelice, an East junior. “I just think of it as a really physically intense sport.”

… The national championships won’t be a picnic, either. [Coach Matt] Dziunycz called his Lady Dingoes underdogs.

“Some of those teams have been in nationals for the last six or seven years,” he said. “Just to be on the field with them is going to be an honor for us.”

RugbyMag.com: Downingtown Finishes 7th at HS Nationals

As one would expect, an incredibly physical match ensued between the Sacramento Amazons and Downingtown for 7th place at the Girls’ High School Championship. What one might not expect was Downingtown’s resiliency on defense and ability to disrupt to hold off a late comeback. The Pennsylvania team held onto a 15-12 win.

We also got to watch a couple of former Downingtown players win the national collegiate title for Penn State. That was fun, too, but the best part of having the college tournament happening at the same time was getting to meet several of the coaches from those college teams. (“She’s a junior,” I said. “And, no, she hasn’t decided yet …”)

There are, however, things that make life easier to endure while one's immune system is fighting the battle of Helm's Deep against the snot-orcs and the congestion cave trolls and the giant sore-throat spiders. (No, Bear, these are not good spiders. They are icky metaphorical spiders, and I am allowed to kill them if I want to.)

For two days I've flung zinc tablets and decongestants at the problem. They've helped, but they haven't really made me feel better. At last, today, I have something that makes me feel as if I wouldn't rather die than have this cold.

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
8 - 10 ounces of hot, but not boiling, water
1 shot whisky (Jameson's would probably be perfect. I have Highland Park single malt 12yo, which is probably pearls before cold-swine, but I don't care)

Combine the above in a mug. Drink. Repeat as necessary.

No, you won't be cured. But you won't care.

Current Mood: bleagh.

http://feministing.com/2012/05/16/what-we-missed-649/

http://feministing.com/?p=48370

Register for Girls for Gender Equity’s 10 year anniversary fundraiser with Anita Hill! We’re co-sponsoring it!

Check out these posters that celebrate Asian-American masculinity.

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is not allowed to testify during a congressional hearing on a bill banning abortions in D.C. after 20 weeks. Sure, because it’s not like it’s an issue that affects her constituents or anything.

Dudes, stop slut-shaming Rihanna. She’s way cooler than all ya’ll, anyway.

Trying not to be hurt that Feministing didn’t get a shout-out on Randall Terry’s new website for “pro-life warriors.”

In NYC? Join the silent march to end Stop and Frisk on Father’s Day. Zerlina has the deets.

http://feministing.com/2012/05/16/mad-men-midweek-fix-dark-shadows/

http://feministing.com/?p=48349

The latest Mad Men episode primarily had the Feministing writers tearing their hair out over Betty’s weight gain storyline.

Betty joins Weight Watchers, tries to manipulate Sally to undermine Megan and Don.

I stayed awake through this episode. Barely.

Unsurprising–Betty has never been particularly mature. Also, her weight is the most annoying plotline because it’s not really making sense. Is she unhappy and got fat? Is she happy and got fat? Or did getting fat make her happy? Is being fat terrible? Is this a tragedy? Hella sloppy storyline and it’s a little boring. Sally’s mean streak was really intense right there tho–was she channeling Don or Betty? That scene was intense, but the way Megan ends up being the voice of reason in the end makes it clear she is way more keyed in to the family dynamics than anyone else. -Samhita

The whole Better Draper fat-shaming storyline is getting completely out of hand. It’s the most tired, sexist trope of all time. Being fat is not a tragedy. Let me say that again. Being fat is not a tragedy! Up until this season, Betty Draper represented the most idealized version of womanhood and femininity. I get that they’re trying to flip the switch and portray Betty in a completely new light. With that, they had so much potential to challenge viewers’ notions of women like Betty who appear to “have it all.” They had an opportunity to humanize Betty, but all they did was reinforce damaging stereotypes. Megan’s power lies in her taut figure while Betty’s downfall lies in her…late night whip cream binge?

C’mon, Mad Men! You’re insulting our intelligence. All you’re doing is regurgitating the message that’s shoved down our throats every other day of the week by every other media outlet: being fat is the worst possible crime a woman can commit. You eat too much ice cream, you become a sad, despairing lady. That’s some really lazy writing. -Anna

I hate this storyline. Seriously, it’s not smart enough for Mad Men. I’m sorry, but I have no interest in watching fat shaming for entertainment. It’s mean spirited towards the character of Betty, and just insulting to the audience. -Jos

Yeah, Samhita said it: This storyline is just boring. For a show that is so subtle in every other way, this heavy-handed storyline is just really odd. Whip cream?? For real? Like, we get it: She’s fat and sad. Seriously, is there anything else to get here? As we’ve said before, Betty’s weight gain has potential to be an interesting, complicated storyline. But so far the fact that she’s gained a few pound is literally the only thing we’ve learned about Betty all season. Well, that and that she thought she was gonna die for a second. -Maya

Michael Ginsburg is upstaging everybody.

Michael Ginsburg could get it. Also, Don’s feeble attempt at undermining him and Michael calling him out, but Don clearly lying since he spent all night figuring out a way to upstage Michael is showing Don’s declining influence and relevance. But if he upstages Peggy in the long run, I’ll hate him forever. #loyal -Samhita

Seconded. #TeamPeggy -Anna

I noticed in this episode that Peggy’s kind of old fashioned like Don. Are either of them really caught up with the cultural changes going on around them? Cause that’s kinda their job. I’m totally in the Michael Ginsburg can get it club – but also, I think it’s smart to have the character who’s work represents the future be so ignorantly sexist. The more things change… -Jos

Roger pitches Manischewitz.

No one on the corner has swagger like Roger. His borderline anti-Semitic jokes were annoying but era appropriate. Roger’s ability to appeal to the rich Jewish folks of Manhattan will keep the old man in the game. I mean–he’s gotta run out of money at some point right? -Samhita

Megan teaches Sally to fake cry.

Is Megan the best actor ever playing the role of her life or is she confused and all over the place? Every time I think we are seeing who she really is, we get another glimpse of how she can con people, including fake crying. Sally seems to be connecting to Megan on a real talk level, but is feeling sorry for mom and being protective of her. -Samhita

But not really! I was kind of surprised when Sally lied to Betty about everything being A-OK on the Anna Draper disclosure front back at Don’s place. Sally’s turning into a beast! She’s learning from all of the worst of them! Yikes! I’m kind of scared of her. That scene where Don tried to reprimand her and she screamed back at him? We’ll see what kind of 1960s/70s young adult she becomes. -Anna

Megan: “Some men are the kind of big, mean assholes who chase you around your apartment and throw you to the ground. But hey, you can totally manipulate them with your tears. Girl power!”

I actually enjoyed seeing Sally stand up for herself when all these adults are manipulating her. Yeah, she’s definitely learning some disturbing behaviors from her parentals, but she’s also learning to navigate these relationships, and frankly I think she’ll quickly learning to do that better than the adults. -Jos

Roger and Jane have sex, he pays for and “ruins” her new apartment

The clarity that Roger experienced post-LSD is clearly not shared and he is mucking this break-up up all over the place. And it’s costing him a fortune! Or…is she the one playing him? -Samhita

Ooooh, I really hope she’s playing him. -Maya

http://feministing.com/2012/05/16/national-tracking-polls-are-stupid-and-romney-probably-isnt-leading-obama-among-women/

http://feministing.com/?p=48353

The latest CBS News/New York Times poll is bullshit. (Sorry, Mom!) No, seriously it is. That’s the latest national poll of women voters which puts Romney ahead of President Obama by 3 points.

Excuse me while I go and laugh uncontrollably.

Confession: I’ve long thought national tracking polls for presidential races were totally stupid and pointless. Why do they exist? It’s not like we haven’t had an election where the person who won the popular vote lost the election. (Well, I guess technically that election was stolen, but you know what I mean.) Since we have the electoral college, the only polling that I pay attention to is state polls. Even more importantly, my focus is always on the battleground/swing state polls. Ya know, the ones that are yellow on Chuck Todd’s map on MSNBC. Those are the polls that really matter.

The reason why I don’t trust national polls–or believe they matter–is because they are over hyped by the media (big red flag!) and because, while they might help shape a narrative in said media, they don’t actually affect outcomes. While it’s true that President Obama has benefited in the so called “war on women”–and poll after poll shows a huge gender gap–national polls of women, just like national polls of both genders, are always prime for inconsistency. They go up and down all the time.

I’m not saying that Romney can’t be ahead of Obama in a poll; I’m saying that it is highly suspect that Romney is ahead of Obama in a poll of women. Any poll that says that given all that has happened in recent months is likely flawed. And it turns out that yes, this one is likely flawed. The Obama campaign certainly thinks the CBS News poll is “biased.” The same CBS poll last month was the only one that had the presidential race tied and instead of using a different sample of voters this time, the CBS pollsters used the same people for this month’s tracking numbers.

But, of course, because these national polls are for the media, the flawed poll isn’t explained away as an outlier. Instead, it’s used by conservatives like Rush Limbaugh to show that the “war on women” is made up and that women really do like Romney more than Obama–despite the fact that all of his policies would make our lives suck.

So quit it with these national polls folks. They’re dumbstupid.

http://feministing.com/2012/05/16/jay-z-has-president-obamas-back-and-supports-marriage-equality/

http://feministing.com/?p=48341

Via The Washington Post

I certainly think last week’s announcement by President Obama is a sea change. Yes, it was a symbolic gesture, but I think it’s important and allows many more public figures to speak out in support of marriage equality. The latest public figure to do so is the hip hop mogul Jay-Z. When asked about President Obama’s support of marriage equality, Jay-Z told CNN:

 I’ve always thought of it as something that is still holding the country back. What people do in their own homes is their business and you can choose to love whoever you love. That’s their business. It’s no different than discriminating against blacks. It’s discrimination, plain and simple.

And when asked whether supporting marriage equality may cost President Obama the election, Jay said:

I think it’s the right thing to do so whether it costs him votes or not. You know, again, it’s really not about votes, it’s about people. So whether or not it costs him votes, it’s the right thing to do as a human being.

The significance of a rapper supporting marriage equality and condemning homophobia cannot be overstated. Hip hop has a long and troubling past of misogyny and homophobia. Jay-Z speaking out in this way is no small thing. Sea change, folks.

Check out video of the interview here.