tag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994a vain girl with a scalpel(but once she was the king of spain!)merrycaepa2011-01-20T06:27:49Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:19592uf, yaaaa2011-01-20T06:21:19Z2011-01-20T06:27:49Z'lover of the light' - mumford & sonspublic0It's been one of those weeks, but briefly...<br /><br />> Atlanta governor Robert Bentley <a href="http://advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/01/19/Ala_Gov_Not_Christian_Not_Your_Brother/">says that only Christians are his brothers and sisters, but that he very much wants to be my brother</a>. Tough luck, sir. I don't wanna be your sister.<br /><br />> <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#41164508">Rachel Maddow last night was brilliant</a>. (I don't have a TV! I get this stuff the day after the rest of ya'll do). Actually, so was <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/tue-january-18-2011-neil-degrasse-tyson">Jon Stewart</a>. And <a href="http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/tue-january-18-2011-cornel-west">Stephen Colbert</a>. This is why I don't have a news roundup today! I'm too busy watching! <br /><br />("Silence. I am watching television." - <em>Transmetropolitan</em>)<br /><br />(I need a <em>Transmet </em>icon)<br /><br />> But seriously! It's just been an incredibly busy week! I don't like this, new semester! Can we talk?<br /><br />> Which is not to say that I don't like the busy! Busy is good! I don't function unless I'm busy! But I don't know what's happening in Germany right now, and that makes me uncomfortable!<br /><br />> I'm also uncomfortable with the number of exclamation points this post contains, so I'm going to go do something else now.<br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=19592" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:19268briefly2011-01-11T18:35:35Z2011-01-11T18:36:01Zthe daily showpublic0Remember the Russian flatmate I mentioned earlier? Her English is on the whole excellent, but occasionally it trips up over words that she's never needed to know (understandably!). So the other day we were talking about relaxing music, and she told me that she has a CD of dolphin sounds. Which was briefly a bit weird, because in my experience, dolphins sound like a squeaky pair of shoes. <br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;">Me: Wait. You're sure it's a dolphin?<br />Her: I think so? <br />Me: Because I think you might mean a whale.<br />Her: What's the difference?<br />Me: Dolphins are cute and playful and smallish and sometimes murder each other. Whales are really big and we don't know much about them, except that they're tasty and useful, which is why there aren't a lot left.<br />Her: ...I think it might be a whale.</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=19268" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:19186Reasonable Jon Stewart is Reasonable.2011-01-11T15:56:37Z2011-01-11T16:02:00Z'shirt' - peter mulveypublic2In the great long list of people whose opinions I try to find and digest and hopefully somewhat retain on a daily basis, there are approximately two who can speak - and often do speak - when I am feeling pissy and partisan and really want nothing more than to start yelling at Republicans, libertarians, and anyone who voted for Nader in 2000 - who can make me back down from whatever Unabomber cabin I've retreated up to in my head. One is Rachel Maddow, and one is Jon Stewart. I frequently disagree with both of them, but I think they'd be okay with the fact that I disagree, and they seem like the sort of people who'd be perfectly happy to talk about how we disagree over a beer - and I think this is some of what keeps me listening, and keeps me willing to reconsider my own positions. I don't know what Maddow's response is to the Giffords shooting because I'm so behind on TRMS it's not even funny. I'm actually just as far behind on TDS, but <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/gabrielle_giffords/index.html?story=/news/feature/2011/01/11/jon_stewart_arizona_shooting">Salon linked to his opening segment </a>from last night's show, and I watched it over my coffee this morning, and damn, that man is just irritatingly reasonable. I want to be angry about the fact that I'm not even angry at this point ('angry' is sort of my homeostasis) but I can't even get my dander up about that. Damn.<br /><br /><table width="360" height="353" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="font: 11px arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);"><tbody><tr valign="middle" style="background-color: rgb(229, 229, 229);"><td style="padding: 2px 1px 0px 5px;"><a target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com">The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a></td><td style="padding: 2px 5px 0px; text-align: right; font-weight: bold;">Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c</td></tr><tr valign="middle" style="height: 14px;"><td style="padding: 2px 1px 0px 5px;" colspan="2"><a target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-10-2011/arizona-shootings-reaction">Arizona Shootings Reaction</a></td></tr><tr valign="middle" style="height: 14px; background-color: rgb(53, 53, 53);"><td colspan="2" style="padding: 2px 5px 0px; width: 360px; overflow: hidden; text-align: right;"><a target="_blank" style="color: rgb(150, 222, 255); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/">www.thedailyshow.com</a></td></tr><tr valign="middle"><td style="padding: 0px;" colspan="2"><embed width="360" height="301" style="display: block;" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:370499" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="window" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="autoPlay=false" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" allownetworking="all" bgcolor="#000000"></embed></td></tr><tr valign="middle" style="height: 18px;"><td style="padding: 0px;" colspan="2"><table width="100%" height="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr valign="middle"><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a target="_blank" style="font: 10px arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/">Daily Show Full Episodes</a></td><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a target="_blank" style="font: 10px arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.indecisionforever.com/">Political Humor & Satire Blog</a></a></td><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a target="_blank" style="font: 10px arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow">The Daily Show on Facebook</a></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />(I just figured out how this embed code thing works, in case you can't tell)<br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=19186" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:18885I'll just leave this here.2011-01-11T02:19:18Z2011-01-11T15:58:17Z'rain' - concrete blondepublic0<table width="360" height="353" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="font: 11px arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);"><tbody><tr valign="middle" style="background-color: rgb(229, 229, 229);"><td style="padding: 2px 1px 0px 5px;"><a target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com">The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a></td><td style="padding: 2px 5px 0px; text-align: right; font-weight: bold;">Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c</td></tr><tr valign="middle" style="height: 14px;"><td style="padding: 2px 1px 0px 5px;" colspan="2"><a target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-april-13-2010/rachel-maddow">Rachel Maddow</a></td></tr><tr valign="middle" style="height: 14px; background-color: rgb(53, 53, 53);"><td colspan="2" style="padding: 2px 5px 0px; width: 360px; overflow: hidden; text-align: right;"><a target="_blank" style="color: rgb(150, 222, 255); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/">www.thedailyshow.com</a></td></tr><tr valign="middle"><td style="padding: 0px;" colspan="2"><embed width="360" height="301" style="display: block;" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:270565" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="window" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="autoPlay=false" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" allownetworking="all" bgcolor="#000000"></embed></td></tr><tr valign="middle" style="height: 18px;"><td style="padding: 0px;" colspan="2"><table width="100%" height="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr valign="middle"><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a target="_blank" style="font: 10px arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/">Daily Show Full Episodes</a></td><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a target="_blank" style="font: 10px arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.indecisionforever.com/">Political Humor & Satire Blog</a></td><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a target="_blank" style="font: 10px arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow">The Daily Show on Facebook</a></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=18885" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:18567a (similarly lengthy) unordered list2011-01-10T22:20:17Z2011-01-10T22:27:19Z'trouble' - coldplaypublic0yWhoa! Lotsa snow!<br /><br />> Okay, if you don't look at any of the links I have here today, look at this one. <a href="http://tigerbeatdown.com/2011/01/09/running-toward-the-gunshots-a-few-words-about-joan-of-ar/">Sady Doyle on Joan of Arc ("Running Toward the Gunshots: A Few Words on Joan of Arc")</a>, and it is brilliant. In seventh grade, I read George Bernard Shaw's play <em>St. Joan</em> for a theatre project, a play, it turns out, that <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://georginasand.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://georginasand.dreamwidth.org/'><b>georginasand</b></a></span> also read (Mutual admiration of the play was another C.S. Lewis moment - "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'"). This post is about being female, being queer, being more than you're supposed to be, and owning yourself. It's one of the best things I've read in a very long time. <br /><br />> Although it is important to keep in mind the direct and indirect effects and implications of the assassination attempt on Congresswoman Giffords, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/10/acapulco-violence-reaches_n_806750.html">27 people were killed in Acapulco within twenty-four hours</a> this weekend.<br /><br />> In the aftermath of said assassination attempt, Jezebel notes <a href="http://jezebel.com/5728995/rachel-mcadams-sees-red">Sarah Palin's backpedalpalooza</a>. <br /><br />> <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/01/02/meet_the_persident?page=0,0">Delightfully blistering Russian political humor in 140 characters</a>.<br /><br />> Foreign Policy asks: "<a href="http://rothkopf.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/09/how_can_a_gun_crazed_society_lead_the_world">How can a gun-crazed society lead the world?</a>" (In the words of Rachel Maddow, "We're no longer officially a superpower. Please turn in your badges.") (The rhetorical answer, of course, is that when one group has guns and another group doesn't, the group with guns tends to decide what both parties do. This is often interpreted as 'leading,' although it might be more correctly characterized as 'herding with bullets.')<br /><br />> <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,738612,00.html">Fascinating interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akhbar Salehi</a>. <br /><br />> <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,738627,00.html">This Spiegel article</a> on the problems with blaming Sarah Palin for the assassination attempt on Gabriel Giffords raises some interesting points, especially towards the end, but I find its basic premise to be fallacious. I for one don't believe that the liberal media zeitgeist as a whole directly draws an line from Palin's Facebook page to the shooting so much as indicts Palin for being one of the most vociferous proponents of increasingly violent rhetoric, and for her refusal to acknowledge that encouraging people to reload rather than retreat during a heated political campaign is going to contribute to an atmosphere where someone could take her advice literally. She did not place a gun in the shooter's hand. She did however, suggest that it would be pretty cool if he did. <a href="http://tigerbeatdown.com/2011/01/10/the-arizona-shooting-an-faq/">TBD's piece</a> is well worth a read.<br /><br />> Aside from the fact that my uni offered a seminar on porn last spring that I really wish I'd done...<a href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=response-to-porn-scandal-by-istanbuls-bilgi-university-violated-academic-freedom-protesters-say-2011-01-10">porn is illegal in Turkey?</a> You're <em>shitting </em>me. <br /><br />> <a href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=suleyman-the-magnificently-polemical-2011-01-09">Turkey appears to have created its own version of <em>The Tudors</em>, centering on the life, times, and hedonism of Suleyman the Magnificent</a>. I kind of love this part: "'This is not a documentary for schoolchildren,' Okay said, adding that the Ottoman sultans had a harem and families. 'They did not reproduce through pollination.'" (But wouldn't it make for even more interesting TV if they had?) (I sense a <em>Doctor Who</em> episode.)<br /><br />> <a href="http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/01/09/132796.html">A study finds that women are often portrayed negatively in Egyptian cartoons</a>. Quelle surprise? Find me a medium where women <em>aren't </em>often portrayed negatively. The article states that "Women often appear in the cartoons as irrational and superficial, according to the study. The study showed that 21 negative traits were attributed to women in cartoons, compared to only nine positive traits, and stated that 62 percent of cartoons deride women’s physical appearance." (Conclusion: Egyptian newspapers are more progressive than my campus's frat houses.)<br /><br />> <a href="http://advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/01/10/McDonalds_Wi_Fi_Blocks_Gay_Sites/">McDonald's wifi in New Zealand allegedly blocks gay lifestyle websites</a>.<br /><br />> Argh <em>The Guardian</em> ("<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/09/david-burgess-sonia-lawyer-death?CMP=twt_gu">The extraordinary life and death of David Burgess</a>"). Look, I know next to nothing about Sonia Burgess, a transwoman human rights lawyer in the UK, so forgive me if I'm missing information. But I know that referring to her as David Burgess in the opening hook and describing her as "living a double life" is a gross misrepresentation of the trans experience. Being transgendered is not living "a double life." Being transgendered is living <em>a</em> life; she was a lawyer, not a Mossad agent. And shouldn't the point of the article be that a brilliant human rights lawyer was murdered, not that said human rights lawyer happened to - horrors! - have a penis? Also, describing how friends of Sonia were upset to see the male pronoun used it press reports <em>and then using said pronoun</em> is flagerantly disrespectful. And stop saying she 'fell.' This is not a Victorian novel. <em>She was fucking pushed</em>. She didn't slip on ice; she didn't jump. She was not tragically doomed for living that oh-so-pointedly-phrased "double life." <em>She was murdere</em>d. One would frankly think that would be more sensational than her genitalia. <br /><br />> <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/11/3110101.htm?section=justin">The Pope says sex ed is an attack on religious freedoms</a>. That pesky science always interfering with religious doctrine! Somewhere, Galileo is weeping.<br /><br />> <em>The Advocate's</em> January cover story: "<a href="http://advocate.com/Print_Issue/Cover_Stories/Madam_Secretary/">Yes She Did</a>." In one of those groundbreaking moments that should not be groundbreaking, Hillary Clinton announces that gay rights are human rights. Unfortunately, as an article, it's too gushy to be terribly useful; I vaguely know that Clinton's record on Acronym Rights isn't as spotless as the article would indicate. <br /><br />> Your Daily "Reach for the Flask Taped to the Underside of Your Desk" Moment: <a href="http://wonkette.com/434664/westboro-baptist-church-thank-god-for-the-shooter">Westboro Baptist Church claims that the nine year-old child murdered during the Gabriel Giffords assassination attempt is "better off dead, so the cup of her iniquity will not overflow!"</a> (Because "That's how God the Avenger Rolls!") I know trying to dig any reason out of WBC polemic is futile, but this is the same group that adamantly opposes abortion? A little <em>consistency </em>is all I ask...<br /><br /> > In one of those bizarre moments confusing to everyone involved, including moi, <a href="http://www.autostraddle.com/skins-usa-is-actually-awesome-72335/">I kind of want to see <em>Skins USA </em>now</a>? <br /><br />> <a href="http://www.autostraddle.com/history-in-the-making-museum-opens-in-the-castro-will-be-great-72522/">The first ever GLBT history museum in the US opens in San Fran this week</a>.<br /><br />> Via Food Network Humor: <a href="http://foodnetworkhumor.com/2010/11/fnh-recipe-ina-gartens-summer-squash-imbued-with-unicorn-magic/">Ina Garten's Summer Squash Soup Imbued with Unicorn Magic </a>("In a large diamond/titanium stockpot, cook shallots in oil over medium heat until they’re supposed to be nice and tender, but you’ve burned them because you’re using bad olive oil and have to just press onward, hoping for the best.")<br /><br />> <a href="http://jezebel.com/5729042/museum-hosts-dick-marathon">Twenty-five hour marathon reading of Moby Dick</a>. The best part of this article is actually a comment: "The only valuable thing I learned from Moby Dick is how to make an apron from a whale dork. I am certain this will come in handy post-2012."<br /><br />> <a href="http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap110110.html">Snowdogs over Sweden</a>.<br /><br />> My favorite poem, ever: Larry Levis's "<a href="http://forum.kearman.com/messages/3324.html">There Are Two Worlds</a>." <br /><br />> <a href="http://jezebel.com/5728995/rachel-mcadams-sees-red">Hot damn, Rachel McAdams</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=18567" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:18336this is a rec post :)2011-01-10T05:51:23Z2011-01-10T06:27:01Z'imitosis' - andrew birdpublic0Or, why I shouldn't be allowed to be simultaneously bored, slightly anxious, and achy, because I become terribly nonproductive and wind up watching asinine videos of kittens on youtube. I don't even particularly like cats. ANYWAY.<br /><br />I have quite a long list of <em>Sherlock </em>fics I've bookmarked; this fandom has generated an overwhelming amount of phenomenal content, especially given the youth of the fandom and the paucity of material (seriously. <em>Three episodes</em>). This crossover is simply beautiful in conception and execution; something about <em>Sherlock </em>(and Sherlock) seems to lend itself peculiarly well to crossovers and AUs. <br /><br />"<a href="http://wafflestories.livejournal.com/3968.html">Just Human</a>" by waffles, rated somewhere G-ish. <br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;">He is found within minutes. They knew he was coming, although they hardly guessed at the manner and the method. They were warned. Within seconds of his birth, they are searching the city for him, dozens of their people tracking through the first few frost-spun minutes of the new millennium, searching for the signal, the fallen star.</div><br />It's quite glorious. <br /><br />-<br /><br />And now for something completely different! Via <a href="http://gofugyourself.com/">GFY</a>: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Axzxe1a78E&feature=player_embedded">Josh Groban advertises his new CD, 752 covers of Kanye West's tweets</a>. Truly this is a wondrous thing. <br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=18336" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:18125an (hilariously long) unordered list2011-01-09T19:47:40Z2011-01-09T20:47:59Z'owen's theme' - torchwood soundtrackpublic0<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">I am BACK AT SCHOOL, I had Village Inn for brekkie, and I have leftover hash browns and pancakes just waiting to be reheated in my NEW (USED) CAST IRON SKILLET. Also, I brought back my complete <i>The X-Files</i> on DVD. I am a happy, happy blogger. <br /> <br /> (Which, like, <i>never </i>happens)<br /> <br /> COMMENCE THE ROUNDUP!<br /> <br /> </span></p><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://merrycaepa.dreamwidth.org/18125.html#cutid1">TO WAR!</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><div> </div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=18125" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:17828so it turns out that being home for the holidays =/= conducive to blogging2011-01-07T06:18:33Z2011-01-07T06:18:33Z'more than this' - 10,000 maniacspublic1Seriously! There's, like, people I have to deal with outside of classroom hours and responsibilities and weird shit. ANYWAY.<br /><br />1. "Girls get a lot of mixed messages—they are told, ‘Girl Power!’ and what does that mean? It means you wear a T-shirt that says, ‘Girl Power!’ but you call each other bitches. You make fun of a girl for being a virgin and you make fun of a girl for having sex. There’s no right place to be." - Tina Fey<br /><br />2. For reasons I myself do not fully understand, I want to see <em>Tron</em>. It just looks so pretty! Also, Olivia Wilde (see: pretty!).<br /><br />3. Also,<em> Black Swan</em>.<br /><br />4. And <em>The King's Speech</em>.<br /><br />5. Goddamn, self, you were supposed to get all of this done BEFORE the semester started.<br /><br />6. I purchased the last of my textbooks today. I feel incredibly broke. Also, I bought a friend's (she's paying me back) (<em>or else</em>). SO LITTLE MONEY IN MY ACCOUNT.<br /><br />7. Oh, and that paper I was going to write over semester? Did that happen? No, it did not!<br /><br />8. Also, I am apparently allergic to latex! <span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://merrycaepa.dreamwidth.org/17828.html#cutid1">ow ow ow ow</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />9. Back to school on Saturday. Nooooooooo. SAVE ME, HAN SOLO!<br /><br />10. Have cleaned out my room in preparation of an exchange student moving in next week. Where does all that shit come from? I don't even live in it anymore! I think it multiplies when I'm not looking. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=17828" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:17582Christmas Eve2010-12-24T18:11:57Z2010-12-24T18:11:57Zpublic0Visiting Grandma for the holidays. In the last hour she's taken on "those lazy people on government handouts" (I wonder if she objects to her Medicaid?), immigrants who "refuse to learn English like the rest of us had to" (perhaps she would enjoy learning Vietnamese? Tagalog?), and how she knows that "Jews don't celebrate Christmas, but if they wanted to be nice, they would pretend" (Um. Um. <em>Um</em>.). <br /><br />Also, Dad threw out his back making stuffing, so he's hardcore drugged up on some muscle relaxants that, in retrospect, aren't supposed to be combined. So with all that in mind...Happy Holidays!<br /><br />> Salon cheerfully takes on <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/media_criticism/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2010/12/24/year_in_pseudoscandals">the biggest fabricated scandals of 2010</a>. <br /><br />> Joe Biden says that <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/gay_marriage/index.html?story=/news/feature/2010/12/24/us_biden_gay_marriage">gay marriage is inevitable</a>. Are we taking bets on how long it'll be before Fox News decides he means that <em>everyone </em>has to get one?<br /><br />> Barney Frank has a "<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/23/barney-frank-radical-homosexual-agenda_n_800746.html">radical homosexual agenda</a>." Awesome! So do I! We can be friends!<br /><br />> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/23/epa-greenhouse-gas-regulations_n_800929.html">The EPA is going on the offensive</a>: "The EPA's new plan will establish standards specifically for fossil fuel power plants and petroleum refineries, both of which combine to represent roughly 40 percent of GHG pollution in the United States."<br /><br />> <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/12/24/singh.atheist.christmas/index.html?hpt=C1">Science writer Simon Signh celebrates the birth of the universe at Christmas by listening to an untuned radio</a>. If I didn't think Grandma would burn me at the stake, I'd try this.<br /><br />> <a href="http://www.osce.org/item/48262.html">Apparently Hungary has passed a draconian (and poorly-written) law with serious implications for freedom of speech</a>. I'm not seeing this anywhere else, though, so I don't know who much of a Thing it is yet. (via <a href="http://www.reddit.com/">Reddit</a>)<br /> (ETA: <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hCI_yOIWe2UcDxWW3GqbCRA7Wbiw?docId=a3910c0633594f4aa55e09963ecc7a2c">yep, it's a thing</a>)<br /><br />> "<a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,736510,00.html">You'd Better Watch Out...: Santa Claus Takes Down Mafia Suspect in Sicily</a>"<br /><br />> <em>Spiegel </em>has <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-63011.html">a gallery of Christmas photos</a> up. They're quite lovely.<br /><br />> <a href="http://wonkette.com/433325/tsa-announces-war-on-xmas-against-insulated-beverage-containers">Wonkette is pissy about the TSA's new regulations regarding insulated beverage containers</a>. <br /><br />> Over at Tiger Beatdown, <a href="http://tigerbeatdown.com/2010/12/22/mooreandme-and-then-he-came-down/">Sady Doyle kicks ass and takes names</a>. I hope I can see that episode of TRMS soon (I am so, so behind on that show ).<br /><br />> On Autostraddle: "<a href="http://www.autostraddle.com/lessons-learned-for-how-jewy-lesbian%E2%80%99s-can-enjoy-a-pleasant-chanukah-with-her-uncharacteristically-bigoted-parents-69276/">Lessons Learned: How a Jewy Lesbian Can Enjoy a Pleasant Chanukah with Her Uncharacteristically Bigoted Parents</a>" (<em>Dad: Let’s light the candles. / Me: Let’s light your face</em>.) and "<a href="http://www.autostraddle.com/deanne-smith-and-the-powerful-surprise-absurdity-of-the-suddenly-topless-70155/">DeAnne Smith and The Powerful Surprise Absurdity of the Suddenly Topless</a>" ("<em>Every once in a while, something happens that forces me to realize that I am not kick-ass. Oftentimes, this feeling results from a ten-minute struggle with a stubborn jar of gherkins. Sometimes, the feeling coincides with the release of an Ellen Page movie. Most recently, it came from finding a spider in my cereal bowl.</em>")<br /><br />Aaaand I'm out. Good luck to everyone contending with family over the holidays. <br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=17582" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:17396an unorderd list - back from the dead!2010-12-20T18:47:14Z2011-01-10T04:16:00Z'the chain' - fleetwood macpublic0Hey, so finals are over, and I incomprehensibly pulled off an A in my Enlightenment class <em>and </em>an A on my fem theory paper and I'm home, which means that I have ready access to alcohol and the time/energy to get properly pissy about the news again*. Life is good.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: smaller;">(* I feel more like an unholy cross between Toby Ziegler and Spider Jerusalem every day)</span><br /><br />> DADT repealed, which you all know (all...three of you?), so I'm not bothering linking to anything, but it's still not safe for gay and lesbian servicemembers to come out. Also, the DREAM Act failed, to which I can only say: FUCK YOU, JOHN MCCAIN. Joe Klein says what I am thinking but more eloquently <a href="http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/12/18/two-dreams-one-dead/?xid=rss-politics-huffpo">here</a>. Wonkette is snippy <a href="http://wonkette.com/432861/senate-votes-to-repeal-dadt-in-john-mccains-face">here</a>, and takes another (if unrelated to DADT) swipe at him <a href="http://wonkette.com/432939/john-mccain-pretty-much">here</a>. It's very satisfying. Man, remember how I said I wasn't going to link to anything? Oops. (Also, Maddowblog celebrates DADT repeal <a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/12/20/5682423-a-last-dadt-post-before-we-sober-up-etc">here</a>.)<br /><br />> <em>The Guardian</em> has leaked details of the rape charges against Assange <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/17/julian-assange-sweden">here</a>; the ever-eloquent <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://rm.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='17' height='17'/></a><a href='http://rm.livejournal.com/'><b>rm</b></a></span> responds <a href="http://rm.livejournal.com/1982637.html">here</a>. Meanwhile, Sady Doyle <a href="http://tigerbeatdown.com/2010/12/18/mooreandme-four-days-outside-the-tower-im-scared-im-tired-im-crying-and-i-wont-stop/">is not fucking backing down</a>. All of these are excellent articles and analysis and they make me want to go away and cry because we as a society apparently aren't capable of handling the complexity of a world where a whistleblowing journalist can also be a rapist. We want our heroes intact, so the pesky rape victims need to be disappeared; and because I have <em>so many friends</em> whose stories were basically <em>The Guardian </em>article. <em>This is not new</em>; he's just a celebrity. All three articles may be triggering; your mileage may vary (also: FUCK YOU, MICHAEL MOORE. FUCK YOU, KEITH OLBERMANN. I expect better from...well, the latter of you).<br /><br />> On <em>The Atlantic</em>'s homepage, <a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/12/the-arc-of-history.html">this editorial</a> was titled "End of the Gay Rights Movement?" Which: Seriously? <em>Seriously</em>? Don't throw out your rainbow flags. This shit is not over yet. (Also, apparently <a href="http://www.towleroad.com/2010/12/scarf.html">a NOM-affiliated organization (lone person?) wants to reclaim the rainbow?</a> Not even going there). Although the article (which is <em>not </em>about whether the gay rights movement is over, stfu editors) has a beautiful line: "But we should also note that what won in the end was facts and testimony and truth." Once you remove the crazy rhetoric and fear mongering and hate, there is no reason why DADT should not have been repealed. Hell, it shouldn't have existed in the first place. It took us seventeen years to get here. But we got here. And it's not even close to the end of the road.<br /><br />> <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/20/birmingham.immigration/index.html?hpt=C1">The lives of asylum seekers in Birmingham</a>.<br /><br />> <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/13/istanbul.grand.bazaar/index.html?hpt=Sbin">Istanbul's Grand Bazaar is getting a facelift</a>. I have mixed emotions about this - obviously work does need to be done, but I worry that too much work will wreck the Bazaar's character, which is like a rabbit warren in a fairytale, a covered city within a city; I've been there over a dozen times and was only able to find my way around confidently the last few. I dunno, part of the charm is that you feel like the whole thing could come down on you at any moment. Which I understand is probably a little...disconcerting. <br /><br />> <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,735633,00.html">Post-election rioting in Belarus</a>: estimated 10,000 in the streets protesting election results. Incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko has been president for 16 years; in an article well worth reading, Foreign Policy calls him "<a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/12/16/life_under_europes_last_dictator">Europe's last dictator</a>." (Seriously, the FP article is tremendously interesting. Also, there is totally a paper to be written on protest theater in the former Soviet bloc.) (True story: I almost wrote a term paper in high school on this exact topic, but chickened out and wrote a truly terrible paper on <em>Angels in America</em> instead. One of my great regrets. Hell, I could still write it...)<br /><br />> Ostensibly <a href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=if-they-have-schengen-let-us-have-samgen-say-syrain-head-of-state-2010-12-20">this </a>is about a potential visa-free zone in Antakya, but mostly it's about Turkey and Syria trying to deal with the fact that Wikileaks has them both looking a little foolish. Yay diplomatic backpedaling!<br /><br />> What the fuck is with this "<a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/12/20/5682550-repeal-amendment-people-still-scary">Repeal Amendment</a>" business? Is this a thing? I don't want it to be thing. I don't even want to start <em>looking</em> around to see if it's a thing. My blood pressure can't handle that. Also, isn't this shit supposed to be squashed in, like, eighth grade civics classes? Jesus. <br /><br />> <a href="http://www.autostraddle.com/get-toasted-with-autostraddle-a-very-special-holiday-drinking-edition-69356/">Autostraddle wants you to get drunk over Christmas</a>. So do I. All the options look intriguing, although the Nightly Standard (ctrl+f inside the article) is my old personal faithful. <br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=17396" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:17126bleurgh2010-12-01T07:16:34Z2010-12-01T07:16:34Z'cold war' - janelle monáepublic0I am 99% sure I just typed that "the inequalities of sexism defang both men and women."<br /><br />Oh my God, I need sleep.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=17126" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:16756huh2010-12-01T06:34:57Z2010-12-01T06:35:52Z"clubbed to death" - rob douganpublic0Thoughts over the last 24 hours while writing a term paper on the Third Wave for my feminist theory class:<br /><br />1. It turns out that outlining is vastly more enjoyable when you include things like "and here is a discussion of Jessica Valenti's chapter on men and feminism WHICH SEGUES BRILLIANTLY into a section on the positive and negative implications of female-dominated spaces, EFFORTLESSLY MOVING THROUGH A TRIPLE TOE LOOP on Mother Courage."<br /><br />2. Best line so far: "At the time of <em>The Beauty Myth</em>'s original publication, the Third Wave was nascent at best; given the 1990 publication date, Wolf and Rebecca Walker were apparently thinking thinky thoughts concurrently. This is awesome and there should be fanfiction, especially if they make out."<br /><br />HELP HELP HELP TERM PAPER IS MORE CRACKTASTIC BY THE PARAGRAPH.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;">2a. Sweet puppies, I think wanting femslash about third-wave feminists is probably a cardinal sin of some kind. I fear bell hooks will take my 'certified feminist' card away in my sleep.<br /> </div>3. Can I use the phrase 'sufficiently fuckable' in my discussion of <em>The Beauty Myth</em>? Please? (ie, "Naomi Wolf is more forgiving. She allows for the secret world created by the beauty myth, where women compete against each other for the dubious prize of being found sufficiently fuckable.")<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=16756" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:16616briefly2010-11-30T13:33:02Z2010-11-30T13:33:02Zpublic01. <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/11/2010113034325429324.html">North Korea unveils new nuclear reactor</a> a week after shelling a South Korean island. Which is scary. But - may I just say? - reactors are really, really big. Like really big. And...we didn't see this coming? Really? Wow. Okay.<br /><br />2. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/29/anderson-cooper-lady-gaga_n_789047.html">Anderson Cooper reveals that Lady Gaga got him drunk during an interview.</a> I recently tripped and fell into pundit rpf due to my newfound fondness for Rachel Maddow, and now I really want fanfic about this.<br /><br />3. "<a href="http://advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/11/29/Kenya_Prime_Minister_Threatens_Gay_Crackdown/">Prime Minister Raila Odinga of Kenya called for gay men and lesbians to be arrested in a speech on Sunday</a>. " Relatedly, I need to add The Advocate to my blogroll. Because I have so much time for my blogroll at the moment. <br /><br />4. PAPERS PAPERS PAPERS. If anyone has any revelations regarding the pros and cons of female-only spaces in a Third Wave analysis, don't be shy!<br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=16616" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:16128hiatus2010-11-29T07:23:56Z2010-11-29T07:23:56Zpublic0Sorry, kids; I've got enough work to do in the next three weeks that I feel ill if I see a calendar out of the corner of my eye (or that could just be the ibuprofen diet; fibro, couldn't you have picked a less inconvenient time to erupt?). There may be sporadic oh-hey-kittens-in-pajamas posts, but likely no news roundups for a bit. Sorry :(<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=16128" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:15879Morning, ents!2010-11-13T19:16:33Z2010-11-13T19:16:33Zpublic3Right, so this is the week from hell (last week didn't go so well, either), so, uh, Mama's kinda buckled down over her laptop with her Smirnoff and Lucky Strikes and fourteen textbooks, but I've got the <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#40141311">Rachel Maddow/Jon Stewart conversation</a> running whilst eating lunch, and oh, Mom and Dad are kinda fighting :(<br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=15879" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:15630bwah ha ha ha this is not remotely related to anything I usually post about2010-11-08T14:12:26Z2010-11-08T14:12:26Z'quiet' - paul simonpublic0Right, so I have this pair of boots (affectionately termed 'my shitkickers') that I have lived in since approximately forever, or at least for the last few years. They're a pair of Eastland hiking boots that Mom foisted on me from Target (of all places) years ago. They languished in my closet until my feet got cold and then I was like, OH, HEY, CHANGE MY LIFE, WHY DON'T YOU. Anyway, they are warm and comfortable and the sole is sproingy and awesome and I have worn them every day that the temperature has been below 75 for a few years now, so imagine my heartbreak when the left sole split this year. My own soul split accordingly. I called my mother. There might have been tears. <br /><br />And we were like, "Oh noes! We will try to glue the sole (and my soul) back together, but alas if that does not work - !" And the alternative was too awful to be spoken aloud, but you can bet it would have involved a trip to the bargain cave at Cabela's. <br /><br />And then this morning, French was canceled (SCORE) and I came back to my room and kicked off my poor shitkickers and noticed that the right sole now was splitting and yes, I <em>was </em>a bovvered, and then I was like, <em>hey</em>... and started googling and <a href="http://www.eastlandshoe.com/M37/getstyle/W/510/40/3007">lo and behold</a>...<br /><br />MORNING, ENTS! GUESS WHICH GIRL HAS TWO THUMBS AND (SOON) A NEW PAIR OF BOOTS?<br /><br />HINT: THIS GIRL! <br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=15630" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:15412headdesk. headdesk. headdesk.2010-11-03T05:07:31Z2010-12-01T06:37:54Z'passenger seat' - death cab for cutiepublic0The Dems have lost the House and barely held onto the Senate, Rand Paul is in, Russ Feingold and Alan Grayson are out, Obama's old seat in the Senate went to a Republican, <a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/02/oklahomans-vote-on-sharia-law-ban/">Sharia law is officially illegal in Oklahoma</a> (<a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/2010_elections/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2010/11/02/oklahoma_sharia_law_ban">no, really</a>), <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/iran/index.html?story=%2Fmwt%2Fbroadsheet%2F2010%2F11%2F02%2Firanian_execution">Sakineh Ashtiani is going to executed</a>, <a href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=homosexual-rights-is-not-an-issue-for-akp-and-chp-2010-11-02">both Turkey's primary parties have announced that gay and lesbian rights are not part of either party's platforms</a>, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/4-small-mail-bombs-explode-in-Athens/articleshow/6860508.cms">Greece had four bombings today</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11673989">over five dozen are dead in Baghdad alone</a> (<a href="http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/11/02/124655.html">and nearly 260 wounded</a>), <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11677782">a parcel bomb was intercepted before reaching Angela Merkel</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11672819">Hurricane Tomas is moving through the Caribbean</a>, and <a href="http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/11/02/124646.html">the Revolutionary Guard thinks Ahmadinejad is too secular</a>.<br /><br /><br />I need a bottle of whiskey and the complete <em>The West Wing</em>, and I need them now.<br /><br />ETA: Oh, and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/02/george-bush-kanye-racist_n_777967.html">Bush says that <em>being insulted by Kanye West</em> was the worst moment of his presidency</a>. <br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=15412" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:15141aaaargh2010-11-01T23:32:26Z2010-11-01T23:33:24Z'sonata in f minor (allegro)' - beethovenpublic0The fibro is flaring, my spine is apparently telescoping, something was <em>off </em>about that pizza at dinner and I sit down to read the following. It continues in this vein for 150 pages:<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;">Wittig suggests that a culturally specific epistemic <em>a priori </em>establishes the naturalness of "sex." But by what enigmatic means has "the body" been accepted as <em>prima facie</em> given that admits of no genealogy? Even within Foucault's essay on the very theme of genealogy, the body is figured as a surface and the scene of a cultural transcription... This corporeal destruction is necessary to produce the speaking subject and its significations. This is a body, described through a "single drama" of domination, inscription, and creation (150). This is not the <em>modus vivendi</em> of one kind of history rather than another, but is, for Foucault, "history" (148) in its essential and repressive gesture...</div><div><br />OH <em>HELL </em>NO.</div><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=15141" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:14925an unordered list2010-11-01T20:50:52Z2010-11-01T20:55:39Z'every man i fall for' - cold war kidspublic0> <a href="http://www.salon.com/books/history/index.html?story=/books/laura_miller/2010/10/31/cleopatra">A Cleopatra biography</a> that apparently does not descend into sensationalism! <br /><br />> I am unsure of why anyone thought quotes were necessary in this title: "<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/10/2010103005151765842.html">Khadr 'scared' of jail rape threat: Guantanamo's youngest prisoner tells military tribunal that interrogators warned he could face gang rape</a>."<br /><br />> "'Today I will start with a three-part sermon on: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11575773">Jesus was HIV-positive,' South African Pastor Xola Skosana recently said</a> in a Sunday church service." Skosana also comments: "'The best gift we can give to people who are HIV-positive is to help de-stigmatise Aids and create an environment where they know God is not against them, he's not ashamed of them.'" I, uh, do not recommend reading the comments.<br /><br />> <a href="http://insidethemiddleeast.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/01/why-is-sexual-harassment-in-egypt-so-rampant/?hpt=C1">Sexual harassment in Egypt</a>; unfortunately sensationalist but interesting nonetheless.<br /><br />> The Ugandan tabloid <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/11/01/uganda.gay.list/index.html">Rolling Stone has published another 'gay list'</a>: "Editor Giles Muhame, 22, has discouraged readers to physically attack people on the list, but he claims gay people are going to schools and 'recruiting' schoolchildren."<br /><br />> With "<a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,726447,00.html">A Superpower in Decline: Is the American Dream Over?</a>" Spiegel asks the tough questions (answer: define 'the American Dream' and we'll get back to you). However, the following article - "<a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,726532,00.html">Giant Hole Opens up in German Town</a>" - at least makes the crumbling American empire seem a bit mundane. And I do have to admit that the 'the Desperate States of America' line is at least kind of funny. But frankly...I mean, define Americans. One of the 'ordinary people' cited in the article is "Axel Jakobeit, a German by birth and American by choice." So when the article says that "Americans aren't careful," does that extend to the Mr. Jakobeit? What defines an American? <br /><br />> <a href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey-probes-suicide-attack-kurdish-rebels-suspected-2010-11-01">The PKK has denied any role in Sunday's suicide bombing</a> in Istanbul, and has extended the cease-fire that was due to expire that day until elections in June. However, it is still possible that the bombing was carried out by a PKK splinter group (ie, the TAK).<br /><br />> On the Foreign Policy frontpage, this article was titled: "<a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/21/night_of_the_living_wonks">Please Don't Feed the Neocon Zombies This Halloween</a>." Also, it's a delightful read. "To paraphrase Thucydides, the realpolitik of zombies is that the strong will do what they can and the weak must suffer devouring by reanimated, ravenous corpses."<br /><br />> "<a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/10/29/the_arabs_and_indians_and_chinese_are_coming">The Arabs (and Indians and Chinese) Are Coming!</a>: With so many touching xenophobic and foreigner-baiting attack ads, it's hard to pick favorites. Here are five of the best as the midterm elections get ugly." My favorite line: "In the third and final ad we're back in the hanger again, but this time our olive-skinned friend appears co-conspirator who seems to be handy building bombs. Or putting a top on a thermos." (FP was pretty punchy today, you may have noticed.)<br /><br />> How is it that almost every headline I see concerning Israel these days fills me with the urge to beat my head roundly upon my desk and keyboard? "<a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/1101/Israelis-launch-their-own-tea-party-ahead-of-US-elections">Israelis launch their own tea party ahead of US elections</a>": "Netanyahu supporters in Israel have launched a self-described 'tea party movement' this weekend, hoping for defeat for US Democrats in the upcoming election... Former Likud parliament member Michael Kleiner, who came up with the idea for an Israeli tea party, praised the US movement as a 'model' capable of intimidating a president whose peace policy has brought 'zero-percent usefulness' and '100 percent terror.'" <em>Headdesk. Headdesk. Headdesk</em>.<br /><br />> Regarding <a href="http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/fray-between-putin-and-medvedev-to-get-uglier/421473.html">the upcoming Medvedev-Putin showdown</a> looming on the horizon, The Moscow Times says: "This battle will only get uglier. Stay tuned." Oh, we shall.<br /><br />> The New Zealand Herald has <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10684658">an interesting take</a> on the Rally to Restore Sanity.<br /><br />> Via Reddit: <a href="http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/ECE1098559/dpp-insists-on-call-for-arabic-tv-ban-/">the Danish People's Party has put out a call to block Al-Jazeera and Al Arabiya on the grounds that such stations indoctrinate children</a>. Jesus, I hate Mondays.<br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=14925" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:14724taksim square/istiklal caddesi2010-10-31T19:29:40Z2010-10-31T19:31:02Zpublic0Taksim Square/Istiklal Caddesi as I remember her (I anthropomorphize that city like crazy; forgive me). About midway down on the right hand side - see the buses? That's where the bomber detonated. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taksim_square_after_rain.jpg">Source</a>.<br /><br /><img width="800" height="536" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Taksim_square_after_rain.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=14724" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:14383an unordered list2010-10-31T18:56:39Z2010-10-31T18:57:00Z'darmadağin' - serdar ortaçpublic0> Suicide bombing in central Istanbul today. I've posted about it <a href="http://merrycaepa.dreamwidth.org/14126.html">below</a>. (This'll be a short roundup, today, kids; most of my newsreading time went into hunting down reports about the bombing)<br /><br />> Salon lovingly if slightly chidingly covers the Rally to Restore Fear/Sanity <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/rally_to_restore_sanity/index.html?story=/ent/tv/feature/2010/10/30/restore_sanity_television">here</a>, covers Jon Stewart specifically <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/rally_to_restore_sanity/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2010/10/30/jon_stewart_sanity_rally">here</a>, and assembles a slide show <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/10/30/rally_sanity_slide_show/slideshow.html">here</a> (my favorite sign - "make awkward sexual advances, not war" - sadly is not featured.)<br /><br />> With their typical lack of anything approaching, subtlty, HuffPo front page announces that "Rally Attendance OBLITERATES Turnout to Glenn Beck Rally." The actual article headline ("<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/30/rally-to-restore-sanity-attendance_n_776547.html">Rally To Restore Sanity Attendance Estimated In Hundreds Of Thousands</a>") is somewhat more staid. Anyway, estimates are variously putting rally attendance between 215,000 and 250,00 - well in excess of Beck's estimated 87,000. Woo!<br /><br />> Via <a href="http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/">GFY</a>: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/10/20/garden/21WHOss.html">the penthous apartment at the top of Smith Tower in Seattle</a>. I want to live here! Clearly I am in the wrong major and aiming at the wrong profession.<br /><br />> Also via <a href="http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/">GFY</a>: <a href="http://bookshelfporn.com/">bookshelf porn</a>! <br /><br />> Reading<em> Invisible Man</em> for English. Lovely book, but it requires a certain level of concentration I am not really in possession of right now (see point the first).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=14383" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:14126suicide bombing in İstanbul2010-10-31T17:12:27Z2010-10-31T19:16:58Z'istanbul'da sonbahar' - teomanpublic0At 9:00 local time, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb directly outside a police point in Taksim Square, killing himself and wounding 32, including 15 police officers (riots and demonstrations are not uncommon in Taksim and the adjacent Istiklal Caddesi, so police vans are a permanent fixture). Reports indicate that the bomber attempted to enter one of the police vans before detonating the explosives directly outside. There is some indication that a secondary charge was intended to detonate shortly after the first, presumably targeting rescue workers, but it either failed to detonate or was defused. Although this comes both on the day celebrating the founding of modern Turkey (the day itself was Friday, but the parade had been rescheduled to Sunday due to inclement weather) and the appointed day of a cease-fire between the Turkish government and the PKK, the PKK have not claimed responsibility, and there is some indication that al-Qaeda may be responsible (or one of a thousand other splinter groups; the TAK is also mentioned). Below is a roundup of links from various news organizations; some give the casualty toll variously at at 15, 22, or 32, depending on how recently the report was filed. <br /><br />Al Jazeera: "<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/10/2010103185656175601.html">Suicide Blast Hits Istanbul</a>"<br />H<span class="attribute-value">ü</span>rriyet Daily News: "<a href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=at-least-3-injured-in-bomb-attack-in-istanbuls-taksim-square-2010-10-31">32 injured in bomb attack in Istanbul's Taksim Square</a>" <div style="margin-left: 40px;">"<a href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=taksim-turned-into-a-battlefield-with-the-traces-of-the-blast-2010-10-31">Eyewitnesses of Istanbul bomb tell of panic</a>"<br />"<a href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=atalay-cautious-for-early-judgement-about-perpetrators-2010-10-31">Turkish official cautions against early judgment on Taksim attack</a>"</div>Today's Zaman: "<a href="http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-225905-suicide-bomb-attack-injures-32-in-istanbuls-taksim-square.html">Suicide bomb attack injures 32 in İstanbul's Taksim Square</a>" (incl. photos; warning: one w/ graphic content)<div style="margin-left: 40px;">"<a href="http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-225942-at-least-32-wounded-in-istanbul-explosion.html">At least 32 wounded in İstanbul explosion</a>"<br />"<a href="http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-225953-centerwho-is-behind-the-suicide-attack-in-taksim-bribyibr-emre-uslucenter.html">Who is behind the suicide attack in Taksim?</a>" (nb: I include this one with some trepidation for a variety of reasons, but mostly because it so flagrantly disregards Atalay's warnings that speculation will not be helpful and in fact is harmful. Also, it's not terribly well written)</div>CNN: "<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/10/31/turkey.blast/index.html?hpt=T2">32 injured in apparent suicide bombing in Turkey</a>" (incl. video segment)<br />New York Times: "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/world/middleeast/01turkey.html?_r=1&hp">Suicide Bomber Injures 32 in Istanbul</a>"<br />The Guardian: "<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/31/suicide-bomber-turkey-istanbul">Suicide bomb attack on Istanbul's main square</a>"<br />Al Arabiya: "<a href="http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/10/31/124357.html">Suicide bomber wounds 15 in central Istanbul: police</a>"<br />BBC: "<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11660795">Istanbul suicide blast injures 32, including 15 police</a>" (incl. video segment)<br />Times of India: "<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Suicide-bomber-wounds-15-in-central-Istanbul-Police-/articleshow/6846298.cms">Suicide bomber wounds 15 in central Istanbul: Police</a>"<br />Haaretz: "<a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/32-people-wounded-in-suspected-suicide-bombing-in-istanbul-1.322110">32 people wounded in suspected suicide bombing in Istanbul</a>"<br />Jersusalem Post: "<a href="http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=193403">Istanbul: 22 injured after suicide bombing in main square</a>"<br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=14126" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:14039this is an x-files rec post2010-10-29T23:14:44Z2010-10-30T00:01:54Z'the movie on your eyelids' - placebotiredpublic0I don't remember precisely how I found it, but this will, forever and for always, be one of my favorite TXF fics of all time. It's one of the fics that was on the bookmarks my Dad sent - as with <a href="http://merrycaepa.dreamwidth.org/12893.html">Dance Card et al</a>., the original link was dead, but I remembered liking it enough to hunt it down over at Gossamer. And without further ado, I bring you:<br /><br /><a href="http://tooms.gossamer.org/display.php?MrAndMrsSmith.Rah">"Mr. & Mrs. Smith and the Ruby-throated Warbler</a>" by rah. Beautiful and hazy, with just a hint of creeping dread the so characterized the show and a whole lot of really nice house!porn. The opening paragraph:<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;">The house is on a quiet square in the old part of town. Like several of the other proud houses on the street, it is surrounded by an ornate wrought iron fence, and shaded by live oaks and wide-branching magnolias that make an awful mess of the sidewalk in the springtime. The neighborhood is genteel and, because this particular square hasn't become fashionable yet, very private. They have been here three weeks.</div><br />Please. Like you don't want to go read it <em>right now</em>.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=14039" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:13623an unordered list2010-10-29T22:57:31Z2010-10-29T23:02:59Z'crystalised' - the xxpublic2> YOU GUYS YOU GUYS BEST LUNCH EVER TODAY. It's cold outside (frosted last night!), it's cold inside (we still have no heat!), and I think I have a cold (joy!), so quite frankly I did not want a fucking salad for lunch today. So instead I shelled a handful of pistachios, dumped it on top of a package of raman, microwaved it, mixed in the flavor packet, let it set, drained off the liquid, added crushed red pepper flakes (you know, the kind that come with delivered pizza), and nommed. It was quite delicious. <br /><br />(I've done something similar with canned chickpeas, which is similarly tasty, but I was cold and tired and didn't want to deal with the fucking can opener attachment on my pocketknife, so there.)<br /><br />> I emailed <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,724471,00.html">this article</a> to my Dad and then later, while we were talking on the phone, told him I wanted to go to Uzbekistan. He was like, dude, that article is a list of reasons why you <em>don't </em>want to go to Uzbekistan. <br /><br />> The Turkish TV show “Fatmagül’ün Suçu Ne?” ("Is it Fatmagül's Fault?") apparently has a gang rape scene, and <a href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=the-lust-for-ratings-on-tv-series-normalizes-rape-2010-10-29">whoa, the controversy</a> (allegedly there is unauthorized tie-in merchandise in the form of underwear and sex dolls. I wish I was kidding). The show's creators argue that it's wrong to characterize a show by one scene, but I would, like to point out that suggesting gang rape (or any other form of sexual assault) is the victim's fault <em>as part of the title </em>would be a good starting place for a discussion. <br /><br />> <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/10/28/china_goes_sideways">This article</a> was headlined as such on the foreignpolicy.com homepage: "Red Red Wine: Can Communists Learn to Love Cabernet? (Bonus: Other Strange Obsessions of the Chinese Bourgeoisie)." I haven't even read the article, but I can't say no to a headline like that. <br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><br />ETA: Reading the article now: "But a nation of uneducated drinkers who show little interest in learning about wine's subtler notes...and rampant counterfeiting mean that China's nascent wine explosion may end up corked." Ha! You slay me.<br /> </div>> I am not entirely sure that this logic tracks? "'<a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/10/28/why_is_osama_bin_laden_going_after_the_french">If you unjustly thought that it is your right to prevent free Muslim women from wearing the face veil, is it not our right to expel your invading men and cut their necks?</a>'" <br /><br />> The New Zealand Herald had an interesting headline today: "<a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10684094" class="superheadline">Credible terrorist threat against US - Obama</a>" I kind of hope that that formatting was an accident? On the other hand, <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10684067">New Zealand's quality of life indicators are making the rest of us look bad</a>, so I suppose they're entitled to be snarky.<br /><br />> "<span><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Saudi-women-claim-human-pink-ribbon-world-record-/articleshow/6832262.cms">In an unprecedented event in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia, Saudi women claimed the world record for forming the largest-ever human pink ribbon at a rally to raise awareness about breast cancer</a>."</span> (Warning: irritating pop-up ads)<br /><br /><div>> <em>The Economist</em>, in an editorial on the Obama administration: "<a href="http://www.economist.com/node/17358862?story_id=17358862">Everyone knew that Mr Obama had inherited the in-box from hell</a>." Very true, that. (This article is actually titled "How did it come to this?" which is a phrase I cannot hear without thinking of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzx6d5h-5Mg">"Where is the horse and the rider?"</a>) But seriously, though, I cannot begin to emphasize how much this matters:<br /> </div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">Obamacare... compels every citizen to buy health insurance on pain of a fine. In return, the poorest buyers get a subsidy. And in return for receiving more than 30m previously uninsured customers, many of them young and healthy, the insurance companies are obliged to offer more generous coverage. For example, they will no longer be able to deny customers coverage on the strength of some pre-existing condition, or put a cap on how much health care they will pay for over a lifetime.</div><p> ><a href="http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/food-for-a-dollar/"> A NYT article</a> on what a dollar will get you, food-wise.<br /><br />> Truly gorgeous <a href="http://lindseycathryn.tumblr.com/post/1433777702/lolpigeons-most-people-blunder-around-this-city"><em>Sherlock</em> pic</a>, with subtle .giffery.</p><div>> <a href="http://pinterest.com/">Aaand </a>there goes my productivity. Damn you, internetz.<br /><br />> Jon Stewart quoted Natalie Merchant in his closing remarks. <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/thu-october-28-2010-">FTW</a>.<br /> </div><div> </div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=13623" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-02:216994:13458so there2010-10-28T05:27:25Z2010-10-28T05:55:07Z'take a bow' - glee castfrustratedpublic0[the scene: a moderately pricey private liberal arts college in the southern midwest. The professor is becoming increasingly exasperated with the class's apathy towards Diderot]<br /><br />Prof: I mean, how do you kids go abroad these days? Mission trips? <br />Various class members: Florence/Paris/Rome on vacation...<br />Enlightenment prof: [impatiently] Yes, but that's the expected, don't you see anything <em>else</em>...?<br />[cricket cricket]<br />Me: ...I was an exchange student...<br />Prof: To France? To Germany? Come <em>on</em>, people...<br />Me: [brightly] To Turkey, actually.<br />Prof: ....oh. Well.<br /><br />[later]<br /><br />Prof: Everyone I know who's been to Turkey has had nothing but good things to say about it!<br />Me: ...I've heard that!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=merrycaepa&ditemid=13458" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments