Greetings. Today we open with The Dead Pool Ordinary Heroes Society giving a standing ovation to Jeanne Manford, 92 years of age, a parent that marched in a parade with a sign that said "Parents of Gays: Unite In Support Of Our Children". With one sign, Jeanne Manford found more than a few people cheering for her, and many more taking her idea and building it into a national and international movement now known as PFLAG.
What is it about our society that it tends to reach for "fat" as an insult? Additionally, a rather large list of links and commentary about the many faults of the Nice Guy (TM).
If you have knowledge of supplies or resources to help someone transitioning from female-to-male, or have friends who do,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
niqaeli would appreciate what help you can give.
Out in the world today, Italy's central bank has suspended the processing of any credit or debit transaction with The Vatican until they become more in line with the EU's laws regarding money transactions. The Vatican's bank has been implicated in money-laundering scandals in the past. Which can make someone wonder about how long the Catholic Church has had some aspect of corruption about it...
The "Don't Be That Guy" campaign against sexual assaults has cut the amount of assault by 10 percent in Vancouver, British Columbia, according to the deputy police chief of the city.
The EU is putting forward a proposal that says pre-ticked boxes do not consent to gather and use personal data make.
And finally, the United States combat role in Afghanistan will be ending in a few months, according to President Obama, rather than the year or longer that had been projected. The long national nightmare of endless war now has a stop point, at least for now. Then, perhaps, we can finally get around to those parades that have been put off for too long. And to turn to the task of making sure our veterans can return to healthy civilian lives.
Domestically, a possible solution to an attampted stranglehold on government based on the debt ceiling - issue platinum coins in appropriate denominations to take care of the government's obligations. (Actually, if you've got people who are Very Concerned about the deficit and debt...even if Status Quo is God, debt reduction is looking very good over the next decade. With a little bit more help, and no Presidents deciding to fight wars and give disastrous tax cuts, things look VERY good.
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton returned to work after spending a month off dealing with and recuperating from a blood clot between her skull and brain...and then several other issues afterward. Welcome back, Madame Secretary. Now, if only someone would confirm your replacement.
A comprehensive round-up of links in relation to the incident in Ohio where members of a football squadron apparently repeatedly raped a student, and others watched and photographed, but nobody stepped in. As well as the apparently concerted effort by the town, including its law enforcement, to bury the incident and make sure nobody got punished for it. This is, unfortunately, not very rare - an infographic that talks about the relationship of people who commit sexual violence to those actually reported, to those prosecuted, to those jailed. (And a tiny bit in the bottom representing the falsely accused.) It's not quite a perfect graphic, as it conflates people with acts, which would require scaling up the graphic with many more things to be consistent, among other things, but it's a good visual representation against the position that accusations of assault are false more than true.
Not to mention how much the culture basically tells young men in certain sports that it's okay to assault women, because those women are there to be ogled and assaulted. And then will go to great lengths to deny that sexual assault does end in pregnancy.
Would it be possible to stop assuming that women, and especially women not being always available for sex, is the reason for divorces? The science says otherwise. A lot of otherwise. Of course, that doesn't mean other aspects of culture won't continue to use women (and the threats or acts of violence to them) as the motivation for protagonists going out and Doing Stuff.
Allstate featured a hurricane-devastated house in one of their advertisements about how caring their agents are...while the company itself is fighting the claims made by the homeowners so they can get enough money to rebuild their house. This will not end well for Allstate.
Last out, the Boy Scouts of America are denying an Eagle award to a teen who has satisfactorily completed the requirements for the award and had his application forwarded on by a review committee - because he's gay, and that means the Boy Scouts don't consider him a member.
Let's peer into technology, where we can see things like Time-lapse photography of the aurorae in the Northern Hemisphere.
Have an interactive map of where the bombs fell in the first few months of the Blitz. If you read Blackout and All Clear, then this is probably a great resource to go looking at.
And then, there's the slime that are patent trolls threatening to sue end users of products like scanners because of "unlicensed use" of their presumably patented technology. That this exists in such blatant form means that we need someone to wade into the USPTO with a hatchet and a mean gleam in their eye to do reviews and start voiding out things that don't qualify.
In opinions, The Weirdo points out that a movie like The Expendables is an accurate reflection of culture...which is highly problematic.
Have a small sampling of what the costs of disability that aren't covered by insurance are - and that's from a position of relative privilege.
Suggestions on writing characters that can grow, and change, and that allow the reader to make their own decisions about the people on the page - with some fascinating commentary in the comments (D.R.D.) about how some forms of character development generate backlash, despite being believable and realistic.
Last out of opinions, when looking for a Bogeyman, everything suddenly starts having spectres.
Last for tonight, the virtues of paying attention in a way that allows you to see the big picture, as well as the fact that there are very few Answers in the world, despite how much we prefer having them to not.
But more importantly, the official response to a petition suggestions that a Death Star be built as a method of economic stimulus. The person responding from the United States government is clearly familiar with the movies referenced, which makes the response quite fun to read.
What is it about our society that it tends to reach for "fat" as an insult? Additionally, a rather large list of links and commentary about the many faults of the Nice Guy (TM).
If you have knowledge of supplies or resources to help someone transitioning from female-to-male, or have friends who do,
niqaeli would appreciate what help you can give.Out in the world today, Italy's central bank has suspended the processing of any credit or debit transaction with The Vatican until they become more in line with the EU's laws regarding money transactions. The Vatican's bank has been implicated in money-laundering scandals in the past. Which can make someone wonder about how long the Catholic Church has had some aspect of corruption about it...
The "Don't Be That Guy" campaign against sexual assaults has cut the amount of assault by 10 percent in Vancouver, British Columbia, according to the deputy police chief of the city.
The EU is putting forward a proposal that says pre-ticked boxes do not consent to gather and use personal data make.
And finally, the United States combat role in Afghanistan will be ending in a few months, according to President Obama, rather than the year or longer that had been projected. The long national nightmare of endless war now has a stop point, at least for now. Then, perhaps, we can finally get around to those parades that have been put off for too long. And to turn to the task of making sure our veterans can return to healthy civilian lives.
Domestically, a possible solution to an attampted stranglehold on government based on the debt ceiling - issue platinum coins in appropriate denominations to take care of the government's obligations. (Actually, if you've got people who are Very Concerned about the deficit and debt...even if Status Quo is God, debt reduction is looking very good over the next decade. With a little bit more help, and no Presidents deciding to fight wars and give disastrous tax cuts, things look VERY good.
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton returned to work after spending a month off dealing with and recuperating from a blood clot between her skull and brain...and then several other issues afterward. Welcome back, Madame Secretary. Now, if only someone would confirm your replacement.
A comprehensive round-up of links in relation to the incident in Ohio where members of a football squadron apparently repeatedly raped a student, and others watched and photographed, but nobody stepped in. As well as the apparently concerted effort by the town, including its law enforcement, to bury the incident and make sure nobody got punished for it. This is, unfortunately, not very rare - an infographic that talks about the relationship of people who commit sexual violence to those actually reported, to those prosecuted, to those jailed. (And a tiny bit in the bottom representing the falsely accused.) It's not quite a perfect graphic, as it conflates people with acts, which would require scaling up the graphic with many more things to be consistent, among other things, but it's a good visual representation against the position that accusations of assault are false more than true.
Not to mention how much the culture basically tells young men in certain sports that it's okay to assault women, because those women are there to be ogled and assaulted. And then will go to great lengths to deny that sexual assault does end in pregnancy.
Would it be possible to stop assuming that women, and especially women not being always available for sex, is the reason for divorces? The science says otherwise. A lot of otherwise. Of course, that doesn't mean other aspects of culture won't continue to use women (and the threats or acts of violence to them) as the motivation for protagonists going out and Doing Stuff.
Allstate featured a hurricane-devastated house in one of their advertisements about how caring their agents are...while the company itself is fighting the claims made by the homeowners so they can get enough money to rebuild their house. This will not end well for Allstate.
Last out, the Boy Scouts of America are denying an Eagle award to a teen who has satisfactorily completed the requirements for the award and had his application forwarded on by a review committee - because he's gay, and that means the Boy Scouts don't consider him a member.
Let's peer into technology, where we can see things like Time-lapse photography of the aurorae in the Northern Hemisphere.
Have an interactive map of where the bombs fell in the first few months of the Blitz. If you read Blackout and All Clear, then this is probably a great resource to go looking at.
And then, there's the slime that are patent trolls threatening to sue end users of products like scanners because of "unlicensed use" of their presumably patented technology. That this exists in such blatant form means that we need someone to wade into the USPTO with a hatchet and a mean gleam in their eye to do reviews and start voiding out things that don't qualify.
In opinions, The Weirdo points out that a movie like The Expendables is an accurate reflection of culture...which is highly problematic.
Have a small sampling of what the costs of disability that aren't covered by insurance are - and that's from a position of relative privilege.
Suggestions on writing characters that can grow, and change, and that allow the reader to make their own decisions about the people on the page - with some fascinating commentary in the comments (D.R.D.) about how some forms of character development generate backlash, despite being believable and realistic.
Last out of opinions, when looking for a Bogeyman, everything suddenly starts having spectres.
Last for tonight, the virtues of paying attention in a way that allows you to see the big picture, as well as the fact that there are very few Answers in the world, despite how much we prefer having them to not.
But more importantly, the official response to a petition suggestions that a Death Star be built as a method of economic stimulus. The person responding from the United States government is clearly familiar with the movies referenced, which makes the response quite fun to read.
