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Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.
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| Monday, December 7th, 2009 |
dglenn
|
5:26a |
QotD
"When you take the human rights of a minority, who suffer
widespread prejudice and discrimination, and put it to a popular
vote, it should come as entirely no surprise that the the very
people they need protecting from vote to take away that
protection. "Don't determine the human rights of
minorities by popular vote. That isn't democracy, that's mob
rule." --
auntysarah,
2009-11-04 |
| Sunday, December 6th, 2009 |
nightstalker
|
11:54p |
There's no place like home and I'll be there tomorrow. Good weekend, great birthday party for grandma-in-law, nice to see all the kin-folk, but I'm ready to sleep in my own chair. Current Mood: exhausted |
| Monday, December 7th, 2009 | |
girlgenius_feed
|
5:00a |
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| Sunday, December 6th, 2009 |
elfwreck
|
8:16p |
Bloggable moments: the evil ex Rob came home this evening, and said, "I have something to talk to you about. Some guy showed up at the coast, and said he's a friend of mine." He was busy unpacking the van (model airplanes), so this was scattered over moving planes and boxes of batteries and whatnot into the house. "Where'd you know him from?" "I don't. But he said we have something in common." More moving planes around, hauling in the toolbox & cooler. I make with the little circular hand gestures: c'mon, more, tell me dammit. "We should be great friends because... we both survived the bitch-slut [Elf]." ( It takes me very little time to figure out who he would have to be. ) Current Mood: amused |
zillah975
|
10:31p |
Help pls, especially from parents So I went on kind of a book-buying spree tonight. My office is doing this thing where the employees are donating toys and stuff and they're going to set up a Christmas 'store' in our downstairs break room, and recipients of whichever charity this is (Ronald McDonald house? I'm not sure -- something to do with kids) are going to come 'round and 'shop' the 'store' for presents for whatever holiday they celebrate. Or, I guess, for no holiday. I don't think anyone has to sign anything guaranteeing what the gift is for. And there's a list of requested gifts, but it's long, and broken out by age group, and I didn't make copies or take notes or anything, and Barnes&Noble was right there when I was running my errands today, and the gift drop-boxes are between my desk and the restroom so I pass them every day and no one had donated any books. ( There's a poll here, 'cause I kind of am dithering now about whether I'm being a controlling elitist asshole. ) |
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someposifeed
|
9:06p |
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wildhuntblog
|
10:50a |
Michael York at the Parliament and other Pagan News of Note http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/12/michael-york-at-the-parliament-and-other-pagan-news-of-note.html http://wildhunt.org/blog/?p=3868 Top Story: I’m very pleased to present, as part of my coverage of the Pagan presence at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia, an interview with Pagan scholar Michael York. Michael York is Professor of Cultural Astronomy and Astrology at Bath Spa University College, UK, an instructor at Cherry Hill Seminary, and author of “Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion”. We discussed the evolving place of modern Paganism at the Parliament, the importance of the Pagan voice in interfaith interactions, and how polytheism promotes democracy.
If you are a Pagan podcaster, or host a Pagan-friendly radio show, you are welcome to download this file to play on your program. Be sure to credit the Pagan Newswire Collective as the audio source. For more Parliament-related audio, check out my discussion with Ed Hubbard, a PNC correspondent, as well as host of MagickTV and Pagans Tonight. There are more scheduled Parliament interviews, so stay tuned to the Pagans at the Parliament blog for the latest news.
In Other News: William Booth at the Washington Post looks at the oft-misunderstood cult of Santa Muerte, or Saint Death. An anthropologist interviewed for the piece makes the argument that this growing, and controversial, faith is a true reflection of contemporary Mexico.
“The authorities have condemned Santa Muerte as a “narco-saint,” worshipped by drug traffickers, cartel assassins and dope slingers. But the worship is more a reflection of contemporary Mexico, says the anthropologist J. Katia Perdigón Castañeda, the author of “La Santa Muerte: Protector of Mankind.” The cult is an urban pop amalgam, New Age meets heavy metal meets Virgin of Guadalupe. It is no accident that it is also cross-cultural — that the centers of worship are the poor, proud heart of Mexico City and the violent frontier lands of Laredo, Juarez and Tijuana. The cult borrows equally from Hollywood and the Aztec underworld. Altars, necklaces and tattoos honoring Santa Muerte also make appearances in Mexican American neighborhoods from Los Angeles to Boston. “The believers may be drug dealers, doctors, carpenters, housewives. The cult accepts all. No matter the social status or age or sexual preference. Even transsexuals. Even criminals. That’s very important, that the cult of Santa Muerte accepts everyone,” Perdigón told me, “because death takes one and all.” Where mainstream Mexican Catholicism promises a better life in the hereafter, “central to the devotion of Santa Muerte is the fact that the believers want a miracle, a favor, in the present, in this life, not when they are dead,” Perdigón said.”
I find it very interesting that while many modern Pagan religions are quite self-conscious of mixing pop-culture with our Paganism, or of modernizing ancient sacred imagery, the followers of Santa Muerte seem to do it instinctively. Focusing more on necessities than proprieties. I wish I could read J. Katia Perdigon Castaneda’s book, but it appears to be only available in Spanish, a language I have not mastered.
I have an update on the case of Ali Sibat, a former Lebanese television presenter who was arrested and sentenced to death for sorcery in Saudi Arabia by the Mutaween (religious police) in Saudi Arabia, but I’m afraid it isn’t good news.
“He was condemned to death last month, and the religious court may confirm the sentence as soon as Thursday. The family’s lawyer, May Khansa, has tried desperately to persuade Lebanese politicians to intervene to save Mr Sbatt’s life – the Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, and President Michel Sleiman are aware of his case and so is the Sunni Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan – but so far without success. Sheikh Qabalan did, however, say that what Mr Sbatt did on television was merely psychological help for people who have lost hope and did not involve black magic. The family wisely appealed to Sunni prelates for help rather than dignitaries from their own Shia background. Their local member of parliament has been asked to assist – uselessly, it appears – and Ibrahim Najjar, the Minister for Justice, has said he has done “the necessary”, whatever that is.”
Saudi lawyers have asked for a million dollars to make a legal appeal, and it seems only the intervention of King Abdullah could save his life at this point. I’ll have more on this case as it develops, but it looks like another innocent person will soon be killed by a government for alleged supernatural crimes.
Why do white supremacists feel the need to subvert Pagan, Heathen, and Christian faiths? Because their own sad attempts at building a “religion” are so transparently political that federal district court judges have no problem denying them equal treatment in court cases.
“In Conner v. Tilton, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111892 (ND CA, Dec. 2, 2009), in a decision unusually detailed in its analysis for a case brought by a prisoner pro se, a California federal district court held that the White supremacist Creativity Movement is not a “religion” for purposes of the First Amendment or RLUIPA. In the case, an inmate sought the right to practice various aspects of his purported religion in Pelican Bay State Prison. In deciding the case, the court relied on the definition of “religion” articulated by the 3rd Circuit in Africa v. Pennsylvania.”
In short,”what’s good for white people is good” just isn’t a comprehensive world-view that addresses “fundamental and ultimate questions having to do with deep and imponderable matters”. There may be (and are) racist Heathens, Pagans, Muslims, and Christians, but they at least have the fig-leaf of an actual faith-tradition when considering legal matters. This sadly means that racists will continue to distort our faiths for their own ends, but at least the misguided may have some chance of interacting with genuine non-racist permutations of those faiths as they move through life.
In a final note, Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion, who has been covering the plight of child witches in Nigeria, brings us the news that notorious (and popular) witch-hunting mega-pastor Helen Ukpabio is suing a local activist and witch children charity. Why is she suing them? For making Ukpabio look bad when her followers raided a conference on Witchcraft and Child Rights.
“Helen applied to the Federal High Court in Calabar for the enforcement of her fundamental rights. She claimed, among other things,that the conference on Witchcraft and Child Rights, held on July 29 in Calabar – which her members disrupted- and the arrest of her church members on the said date constituted an infringement on their rights to practice their christian religious belief relating to witchcraft. She asked the court to issue perpetual injunctions restraining me and others – From interfering with their practice of christianity and their deliverance of people with witchcraft spirit … From holding seminars or workshops denouncing the christian religious belief in witchcraft … From arresting her and her church members etc.”
The activist, Leo Igwe, has sent out a press release regarding the lawsuit. Due to oppressive British libel laws, Bartholomew wasn’t able to reprint the entire thing, so I’m making it available here. I’ll try to keep you posted as new developments in this case arise, but I strongly suggest you also read Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion for the latest updates as well.
That’s all I have for now, don’t forget to check the Pagans at the Parliament blog for the latest updates and links from Melbourne, and have a great day! |
atalantapendrag
|
11:15a |
And things progress. I wrote the formal complaint email and sent it off to the ombudsman. I should ("should" being the operative word, I'm sure) hear back by Wednesday morning. Thank you so much, everyone who offered your support and cheered doombuggie on! I had him read over my letter before I sent it, and specifically asked that all corresspondence be CC'ed to him. Inspection on Tuesday. I need to empty out the litterboxes. That'll wipe my back out for a day or two, but it needs to be done. Got plans with doombuggie tonight. Gonna snag his friend J., gonna hit Fiesta so I can grab some ginger beer and see if this year's Christmas aisle is worthy of taking rehd_fawx to when she visits (if it's not, I'll probably snag her some Jaffa cakes and stuff so she'll still have some imported goodies. Then it's back to doombuggie's to fire up the hookahs. Since he already knows his Christmas present is a tin of Starbuzz Kiwi Strawberry, I might as well give it to him now. He has a bunch of flavors I haven't triedyet that sound good, and I have that Bounty flavor. Uhhhhgh, I had to take some Benadryl and now I am wiped out. Goodbye for a few hours, world. Current Mood: sleepyCurrent Music: Steeleye Span - In the Bleak Midwinter |
fayanora
|
9:02a |
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dglenn
|
5:26a |
QotD
From the
Quotation of the day mailing list, 2008-03-08:
"My first visual impression of Mick was that he was all
ears and lips, and oh so skinny. Funnily, over the years his
ears seem to have shrunk to normal proportions, and the lips,
while still notoriously gigantic, have deflated from dirigible
size to the more accessible thickness of a pair of meaty
kielbasas." -- Long John Baldry, blues musician, in a 1989
essay, recalling his first meeting with Mick Jagger in 1962.
Quoted in It Ain't Easy: Long John Baldry and the Birth of the
British Blues by Paul Myers. (submitted to
the mailing list by Terry Labach) |
| Saturday, December 5th, 2009 |
blue_soaring
|
10:09p |
The Men Who Stare at Goats. Hippie sex magic fic GO. Originally posted at Dreamwidth here. Please comment there using OpenID or ask me for an invite code. :3 |
dglenn
|
5:38p |
What I Really Need From Weather Forecasters When the weather forecast calls for only one to three inches of
snow, the question I really want them to answer for me is: will
it take long enough to melt that I need to take my pain meds and
go clear the sidewalk, or will it melt quickly enough that I can
ignore it in good conscience and save the pills for another day?
Today the answer was easy: when I looked outside, the sidewalk
was wet, not white (snow stuck to parked cars but not to pavement),
and it looks like the Winter Weather Event (aka French toast emergency)
is nearly over, so I may want to sprinkle some salt now that the sun
has gone down, but I don't need to sweep or shovel anything, so I'll
probably get away with just ibuprofen. |
dglenn
|
4:34p |
An Ad Too Far My computer crashed last night, so I reloaded a bunch of browser
tabs I'd had open before the crash. On one LiveJournal entry,
when I went to that tab for the first time after the reload, a Best
Buy ad showed up blocking my view of 95% of the window (with the
rest greyed out), a jingle started playing, and the "close this and
continue" button had a message saying I could only close it after it
had played at least four seconds.
I was logged in already at the time.
A banner ad here, a margin ad there, I can skip over even if they
do annoy me when I notice them. This trend of popping up ads that
block my view of the content of the page is something I've been
meaning to rant about (it gives me the message, "we really don't
want you to read what's on this page," or possibly, "our webmaster
fucked up").
Showing ads to other people, on my content, without paying me
for doing so, was the reason I stopped posting complete entries on
LJ and started posting fake-cut-tags linking to whole entries
elsewhere (mostly Dreamwidth, also InsaneJournal and others).
Paying LJ not to show my ads to my readers would've been an
option if the reason I'd reverted to a free account in the first
place hadn't been in protest of other policies I wanted to see
changed before I gave them more money. This most recent
tactic, if it persists, may finally be enough to chase me away
from reading LJ (and reinforces my opinion that taking
my content elsewhere was wiser than subjecting my readers to ads
LJ serves). Seeing a banner ad before the comments when reading
an entry by a user with a 'Plus' account is one thing. Stopping
me from even seeing the entry until I've turned off my
speakers and waited four seconds (at least in the browser I'm
using at the moment, the clock starts ticking when I make that
tab current, not as soon as the page finishes loading in the
background) goes too far. I realize that the whole point is
that banner ads are too easy to ignore, but here's the thing:
if you make the ad foreground instead of background, its
effectiveness goes from not-as-positive-as-you'd-like, to
negative, or at best zero: you don't get me to
pay more attention, you convince me to go read something
else.
And yes, this ad did piss me off enough to warrant taking
the time to write five paragraphs about it and to make an
exception to my links-on-LJ-text-goes-elsewhere policy because
I want to make sure my friends who only bother to lick those
links when they look especially interesting (there must be a
few, at least) see this too. But the basic idea is quite
simple regardless of temper: make it sufficiently annoying
or inconvenient to read, and I'll find something else to read
instead. It's a big web; I'll find something else to read.
Read this / comment on it at
blurty
dreamwidth
crazylife
journalfen
livejournal
scribbld
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wildhuntblog
|
10:52a |
Pagans at the Parliament Update II http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/12/pagans-at-the-parliament-update-ii.html http://wildhunt.org/blog/?p=3862 While Saturday is just beginning for us in America, it is already finished in Australia, and a large influx of updates and reports from the Pagan delegations at the Parliament of the World’s Religions have appeared. Let’s start with Dave Linton of Circle Sanctuary’s report of Patrick McCollum’s Saturday-morning ritual at the Parliament.
“Today started with the Solstice Sites and Celebrations program and ritual, which was held outdoors at 8:00 am under a sparkling blue sky, next to the Yarra river, and outside the massive glass walls of the Melbourne Convention Center. Patrick McCollum started the session with a discussion of the combined Northern Hemisphere Winter Solstice and Southern Hemisphere Summer Solstice celebration. This led to how Solstices have been celebrated through the ages, and sacred places where these celebrations have been held historically, and are today.”
But that wasn’t the only Pagan observance happening at Parliament, EarthSpirit’s blog brings us an account of Friday afternoon’s “Peace at the Heart of the World” ritual, co-facilitated by Deirdre Pulgram Arthen, Andras Corban Arthen and Angie Buchanan.

Peace ritual procession. Photo by Moira Ashleigh.
“In the ritual many Pagan presenters offered a spoken piece including T Thorn Coyle, River Higginbotham, Drake Spaeth, Anna Korn, Don Frew, Patrick McCollum, Sue Curewitz Arthen, Kaye Hughes Kittredge, Chris LaFond, Moira Ashleigh and several of the Queensland Pagans. The sacred waters of the worlds were brought to bless everyone as well as the sacred symbolic rattles by Julee Higginbotham. MotherTongue led several chants and closed with a Gaelic Blessing.”
Meanwhile, Don Frew from COG gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the chaos sometimes involved in putting such a ritual together. In fact, the COG Interfaith Reports blog has been refreshingly candid about the frustrations and hectic-paced nature of an event of this magnitude. I’m amazed at how often they’ve been able to update. According to a communication I’ve had from author and Cherry Hill Seminary teacher Michael York, there’s barely time to breath, let alone eat, due to the oft-times frenzied pace. Perhaps that’s why Thorn Coyle wisely decided to share short vignettes in her latest update, rather than even attempt a longer narrative.
“Saami in embroidered clothing. Orange robes. Grey robes. Business suits. Saris. Brown robes. Golden robes. Celtic patterns. Jeans. Turbans. Hijab. Bare heads. Skin of many hues and hair of many textures. Many, many smiles.”
As for local Pagans, they shared their hospitality at Friday’s Parliament Local Community Night, where the Melbourne Reclaiming group organized a ritual and local Pagan rock-star Wendy Rule (among others) performed. There hasn’t been much written about it (yet), but I’ve heard nothing but good things from the folks who’ve been in contact with me.
Turning briefly to mainstream coverage of the Parliament, Pagans haven’t been mentioned all that much, save for a brief aside in an article about the items for sale in the exhibitor’s hall.
“The sceptics are the only ones missing in action. But the pagans have set up shop with a contingent of about 50 from the United States. At their stall they sell celebratory music for the winter solstice – a bargain at $20.”
I suppose our lack of impression on the global media (so far) is understandable considering the many religious (and political) heavy-hitters presenting and giving talks at the Parliament. This state of being lost in a sea of religious voices only underscores why it’s important for Pagan organizations and journalists to work together in getting the word out, something that I think is starting to happen with events like this.
As always, stay tuned to the Pagans at the Parliament blog for more updates, I expect we’ll be hearing from more folks as the paces starts to slow down a bit, and attendees have a moment to collect their thoughts and report in. I’m still arranging audio interviews, so more on that as it happens. |
wyldraven
|
10:20a |
Barbara update Moving to MIMU (Medical Intermediate Unit, one step off of ICU) today after stat CT of abdomen and stat chest x-ray. Gram positive sepsis. Source undetermined as of yet. CT to rule out another intestinal rupture. May also be PICC infection. Situation not critical, but definitely no longer stable either. Prayers, etc please. ETA: She will be in MIMU Bed 1 if you want to send e-greetings. Originally posted at http://wyldraven.dreamwidth.org/544334.html Current Mood: distressed |
fayanora
|
9:02a |
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blue_soaring
|
3:34a |
Blues are nocturnal. Tonight so far has included yoga, the DVD commentary for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, some very strange and random urge to clean the grout in the backsplash above my kitchen sink with a toothbrush, digging through the external hard drive and rediscovering the OST for Chrono Cross, my neighbour orgasming incredibly loudly, downloading anything and everything that involves Robert Downey Jr.'s face, and rearranging my attic while muddling over the issues of identity and existance in Chrono Cross. Not sleeping is certainly productive, but not in that way where it's useful. I haven't gone to bed in three days now! It is very strange to subsist on random couch naps, lemme tell you. Tomorrow is movie day, as Roomie's retroactive pay finally showed up, so we're gonna go see 2012 and The Men Who Stare at Goats. As much as I want to see both, I really wish Sherlock freakin' Holmes was out already. In other news, I want to write fic but I don't want to actually write. This presents an obvious problem. Originally posted at Dreamwidth here. Please comment there using OpenID or ask me for an invite code. :3 |
dglenn
|
5:26a |
QotD
"It's not widely publicized by the U.S. Agriculture
Department, but marijuana is America's largest cash crop--topping
the value of corn and wheat combined. A 2005 analysis by Harvard
economist Jeffrey Miron found that legalization would generate
$7.7 billion a year in enforcement savings for local, state, and
federal taxpayers, while producing annual tax revenues of $6.2
billion." -- Jim Hightower,
2009-11-23 [thanks to
Penguirl for
linking to it.] (That the next available spot in
the quotes-queue when I added this was also the anniversary of the
repeal of the 18th Amendment (Prohibition), was a lucky accident.) |
| Friday, December 4th, 2009 |
telaryn
|
8:30p |
Tonight's Dollhouse... I FUCKING CALLED IT!!!!!!!!
Current Mood: ecstatic |
telaryn
|
5:43p |
Non-Faith/Dean Fic! For apocalypsos, because she asked and because it really just had to be done. Hope it lives up to the vision in your head. *g* Title: A Light In The Shadows 'Verse: SPN Characters: Jo/Castiel. Minor appearances by other SPN folk, but in this story these two are all that count. Word Count: 1170 Rating: R Author's Notes: Possible minor spoilers for "Abandon All Hope". Like many in SPN fandom, I jumped onto a shiny new 'ship the night the episode aired. Writing Jo and Castiel is definitely different from writing Faith/Dean - parts of this were quite a challenge for me. ( Getting to turn him down had felt like Christmas and her birthday all rolled into one glorious moment. ) Current Mood: accomplished |
zillah975
|
4:52p |
For my U.S. peeps Yeah, it's that Stupak thing again. The Senate may vote in the next few days on an amendment by Sen. Ben Nelson to add the House Stupak language back into the Senate health care bill -- and we've got to speak out now to stop it.
That's why I signed the petition Senator Barbara Boxer has launched at www.FightForWomensHealth.com, calling for the removal of the Stupak Amendment from any bill that reaches the President's desk. We succeeded in keeping the Stupak Amendment out of the initial Senate health care reform bill, but we knew our opponents wouldn't give up easily -- and they're already back.
Please join me and Senator Boxer at www.FightForWomensHealth.com today!
Thank you! Mirrored from this post at Dreamwidth, which currently has comments.
Read comments | Reply |
atalantapendrag
|
11:19a |
OH SNAP! Or, an account of doombuggie's vast awesomeness. On my last visit to MHMR, I signed a form allowing doombuggie access to my information there. There are times when he can describe my symptoms better that I can, and times when he has a better grasp on what's up with my meds. And there are times when I really need a friend to advocate for me. Yesterday was one of those times. I had an appointment with a nurse I hadn't seen before. I introduced doombuggie (by his legal name) as my advocate, and confimed that I'd signed a consent form. She did not look happy about me having an advocate present. There were only two chairs, and I was going to cede the empty chair to doombuggie, because the chilly weather can't have been kind to his fibromyalgia. That was when the nurse snapped "Which one of you is the patient?". Now, neither of us has an gender-ambiguous name or appearance, and I'd already introduced him as my advocate, so clearly she wasn't in any doubt, but merely harassing us. Anyway, she insisted I take the chair, and when I tried described my symptoms, she kept interrupting me and contradicting me, especially when I tried to describe my sleep patterns. Then she started giving me a hard time for coming in to see her and not my regular doctor's nurse, and for coming in on a day when my regular doctor wasn't in. Now, this isn't something I have any control over; the appointment clerk sets up the appointment and you take what they give you. She wouldn't refill my meds, I'd have to come back to see the other nurse on a day my doctor was in. I was shaking badly at that point, and doombuggie just let loose. Said her behavior was uncalled for, she was rude and unprofessional, her actions were making my symptoms worse... I admit I fled down the hall at that point, partly because I was wigging out, and partly because I was trying not to burst out laughing from all the awesome, so I might have missed a bit of the closing kickassery. But honestly, I think they heard it in the waiting room; doombuggie's voice carries. So we made the new appointment (it's on the 11th), and talked about writing up a formal complaint (I intend to). And when I got home I took a meganap, and the kitties snuggled around me. Ah, doombuggie, why you gotta be so awesome? Current Mood: gratefulCurrent Music: Two Gallants - Fail Hard to Regain (Live) |
wyldraven
|
10:15a |
Barbara update - minor setback Barbara ( lasarina) woke up around 7 am to a fever of 103.7, pulse 161, BP 138/70. She was shivering uncontrollably, and complaining of chills. Rapid response team got the situation under control in a little over an hour. Thought for a while she was headed to ICU, but she's still in the same room. The immediate crisis has been averted, but she is still running a fever of around 102. They've taken blood cultures. We suspect PICC line infection, which is a common side affect of TPN. Started two IV antibiotics (Vanco and one other I'm not familiar with). That puts surgery out of the question for probably at least another week. Sometimes it seems like the old saw of "Two steps forward, one step back" has it reversed. This feels like it's going to be one of those days. Thanks to everyone for the e-cards. They have helped lift her spirits a lot. Originally posted at http://wyldraven.dreamwidth.org/544053.html Current Mood: anxious |
elfwreck
|
7:53a |
Racism at MobileRead I posted an entry at racism_101 called Seeking advice: discussions on topic-focused forums. The Mobileread thread in question has a full collection of classic racist tropes: OBAMA MEANS NO MORE RACISM: Are you calling whites in America a "more privileged category"? In what way? What "power" do they have over non-whites? Last I heard, the most powerful man in America and the whole world was black.AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IS DISCRIMINATION: Hiring someone on basis of race, gender or whatever, instead of going for the best qualified, regardless of race gender or whatever, makes absolutely no sense. (This sentiment was repeated by several people with different and generally more offensive phrasings.) BUT THEY CALL THEMSELVES BY THOSE WORDS: But if *I* were to use those words, even to close friends, I'd be reviled and castigated. So if they're so damned offensive, why would those who call them offensive *ever* use them?MY FAMILY WAS TOO POOR TO BE PRIVILEGED: *MY* parents are - on my mother's side - dirt-poor immigrants from Potato Famine Ireland and - on my father's side - peasant and serf stock from the Austria region. They settled in Montana and northern Ohio where they busted their collective butts off to survive. Privileged? I wish!I WILL DECIDE WHAT TERMS ARE OFFENSIVE: I think the reason I asked is because the N-word is a racial slur. The I word isn't. Or at least isn't in my area. (Word in question is "Indian," relating to author Sherman Alexie.) RACISM = BELIEVING RACE MATTERS: Assuming that because someone's race is not white that they are at a disadvantage is bigotry. Hands down.Aaaaand I've maxed out my boggle-meter on that last one. Advice on how or whether to continue would be welcome. Sympathetic boggling would also be welcome. This entry is crossposted at http://elf.dreamwidth.org/286393.html. You can comment there with OpenID from your LJ or IJ account. Comments so far: |
fayanora
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9:04a |
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