Suggested by Shaker nia_74656: What activity never fails to cheer you up?
(Activity should be interpreted in the most general sense; it doesn't necessarily mean something that involves an active body, of course.)
This is one of the silliest things in the world, but something that Iain and I both love to do is wander aimlessly around dollar stores. One of our favorites is Big Lots (it used to be "Odd Lots" on the East Coast, and may be still). I come by it naturally: My grandfather loved cruising around dollar stores (or five-and-dimes, then), and his daughter, my mother, loves it, and so do I.
Iain and I can kill hours wandering around Big Lots, looking at junk, making jokes about the random crap we find, getting all excited about finding the rare gems (two weekends ago, I bought two $2 organizers that turned my bathroom counter into the picture of organization; not bad for four wacky bucks!), and expressing surprise at finding all the things we didn't even know we needed but TOTES DO! Iain found a $5 "weather center" there once, jizzed in his pants, and has provided me with constant weather updates ever since.
Most of the time, we don't even buy anything. We just love moseying around idly, chatting away and laughing. It's a no-fail cheer-up.
Whenever one of us is restless and grumpy and being a pain in the ass, or when both of us are bored and driving each other trucknutz for lack of anything more productive to do, a suggestion that we "go to Big Lots" is never long in coming.
Question of the Day
Not Quite Daily Teaspoon Report - M091207
Hello Shakers, and welcome to the latest edition of the Not Quite Daily Teaspoon Report. I know it's been several days, you have my apologies for that, I'd meant to get one up on Friday or Saturday, and depression bit me hard, and it didn't get done.
For those new at this, the idea here is for you to leave comments in which you describe acts of teaspooning, which can be by you or just ones you observed happening somewhere.
We like to keep a tight focus in this thread, so that those who have only a little time can get maximal utility from it, so please save any comments which are anything but teaspoons for this thread, wherein we explicitly invite comments discussing the teaspoons herein, or even comments just admiring someone's acts. If you would specifically like comments on your teaspoon over in the Discussion Thread, it's alright to say so here, something like "I'd love to hear suggestions on how I could have done this better!" would be the kind of thing I mean.
The Discussion Thread today will also ask whether there's someone who's interested in volunteering to help me out with a possible extension to Twitter of the NQDTR.
NQDTR Discussion Thread - M091207
Hello, Shakers, and welcome to the NQDTR Discussion Thread for Monday, December 7, 2009.
This thread is for discussion and comments inspired by comments left in today's NQDTR, namely this one. If you're intending to report a teaspooning act, you want to do so in that thread. If you want to talk about an act you saw someone post about, do so over here. Please remember that no one on the NQDTR thread is required to come here, so your message may not be read by its intended recipient.
We are allowing congratulatory comments, but do take a moment to read the thread first, and if the person has already had several comments of that sort, perhaps it isn't necessary to pile on. We want to avoid the chance of it becoming a sort of popularity contest, which can be triggering of serious social anxiety for a lot of people.
Additionally today, I'd like to know if there's anyone who'd like to help me by taking on a NQDTR Twitter account. I don't use Twitter myself, and really don't want to add any more social networking sites, because honestly I've got too many already (I have five separate LJ blogs, as well as two communities, and a Facebook account, plus contributing here - it's enough!). My idea (after Liss explained a bit about how Twitter works) is that maybe someone could maintain an NQDTR Twitter account, and tweet a few of the teaspoons each time there's a report. Or whatever way you want to use it to accomplish much the same sort of goal - if you want to invite people to tweet things to you which you will re-tweet, that's fine. Like I said, I don't use it, so I'm not sure how to use it well for this, but I'd bet one of you does know, and I'd love the assist if anyone can step up.
Here's Something I Could Do Without
One fucking more reality show the premise of which is approximately a dozen women desperately competing for the affections of some misogynist pseudo-celebrity whose talent is inversely proportional to his smug self-centeredness, and whose entire contribution to the show consists of giving the women revolting nicknames like Cherrytits or Smooth Operator and passive-aggressively judging "challenges" ostensibly conceived to test compatibility but in reality designed for the maximum humiliation of the female participants.
I'm looking at you, VH1. Knock it off.
What really pisses me off is that I don't even watch this shit, and yet somehow I'm aware of and tremendously annoyed by these shows' collective existence.
Also annoying: That these shows are defended on the basis that people are willing to do them, and people are willing to watch them, so what's the big deal? There are people who would sign up to be physically tortured to within an inch of their very lives on television, too, given the offer of a big paycheck—and people who would watch. Just because there's a market for something doesn't make it right.
Job Requirements
Stan Millage of Sioux City began waiting in line at 4:30 a.m. to get his book signed by Sarah Palin:
She's a down to earth person who will fight against the government. I can see her out there fishing with the guys. Plus, she's hot.Exactly the criteria on which the leader of the free world should be chosen.
HT to Andrew Sullivan.
Paging Mr. Hitchcock
All morning, the nearly-bare vines outside my office window have been a hotbed of activity among a big group of starlings:
They come and nibble and go, come and preen and go, come and dance and chatter and go. Sophie, atop the monitor as usual, watches them with great interest, of course.
The starlings are big and sleek and shiny, and they have this frenetic energy, this air of curious judgment as they pass through.
Normally, the vines are inhabited by sparrows—smaller, less flashy, less investigative. They move amongst the leaves, or along and bare and dry vines, with a confidence that would suggest even to the casual viewer that this space is their home.
[Northwest Indiana, 2009.]
Nelson Has Filed His Stupakian Amendment to the Senate Bill
It's nice to know there's always bipartisan support for fucking over women:
Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson and Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch today filed their amendment to tighten restrictions on federal funding for abortion. The amendment is likely to be debated on the floor tomorrow. Most observers expect it to fail, which could put the future of reform in doubt as Nelson has threatened to filibuster a bill that doesn't include the provision.The text of the bill is at the link.
The amendment prohibits federal funds from paying for abortion. It prohibits the public option from covering abortion and blocks consumers from using subsidies to purchase a health insurance policy that covers abortion.
The only other Democratic sponsor of the bill? Senator Bob Casey, the anti-choicer who stole Rick Santorum's Senate seat, the fight over whose support from party leadership in '05 saw progressive feminists cast as hysterics because we predicted that demoting women's fundamental right to bodily autonomy to a negotiable platform plank would inevitably lead to an expectation of the Dems to concede ground on choice on the federal level.
And here we are.
Photo of the Day
If you can't view the image, it's a picture of 25-year-old evangelist street preacher Jesse Morrell, who has been preaching about the "evils of sin" on Yale's campus, wearing a sandwich-board reading: "REPENT: Fornicators, Homosexuals, Liars, Thieves, Masturbators, Obama Voters, Buddhists, Dirty Dancers, Hindus, Gangster Rappers, Muslims, Drunkards, Feminists, Immodest Women, Democrats, Liberals, Evolutionists, Atheists, Potheads, Sodomites. HELL AWAITS YOU!" Two men kiss in a passionate embrace in front of him. [Photo by Daniel Carvalho.]
Dirty dancers? Seriously? LOL.
[Via Andy.]
Monday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, makers of Spudsy's Supercool Scooter Helmets. "Safety first!"
Recommended Reading:
Natalie: The Face of Reform
Latoya: Youth of Color Think Stupak is the Pitts Too!
Lisa: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Renee: Only in Alberta Could Hate Speech Against the LGBT Community Constitute a Victory
Angry Asian Man: Die, Mr. Wong, Dammit
Skud: Motorola Droid: Why Don't You Want My Business?
Melissa: Sexism Watch: Race Poster (If Cait hadn't already done the Quote of the Day, I'd make it "God, I hate David Mamet," lol. Because: God, I hate David Mamet.)
Leave your links in comments...
Huh?
Another inexplicable bit of internet detritus I found. Anyone who can explain it to me wins a prize.
[Cross-posted.]
Guttmacher: 70% Reduction in Maternal Deaths Within Reach
We received a press release from the Guttmacher Institute on Friday, showing that investment in family planning and pregnancy-related care could bring a reduction of seventy per cent in maternal deaths, and as much as a fifty percent reduction in neonatal deaths.
LONDON – Maternal deaths in developing countries could be slashed by 70% and newborn deaths cut nearly in half if the world doubled investment in family planning and pregnancy-related care, shows a new report by the Guttmacher Institute and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. Currently, more than half a million maternal deaths and 3.5 million newborn deaths, many of them easily preventable, occur each year, in developing countries.Good thing the wealthiest countries in the world are so dedicated to bringing this investment to the rest of the world, right? Right? I mean, it's not like some small group of religious anti-science fanatics could hold us back from that, right?
The new report, Adding It Up: The Costs and Benefits of Investing in Family Planning and Maternal and Newborn Health, also found that investments in family planning boost the overall effectiveness of every dollar spent on the provision of pregnancy-related and newborn health care. Simultaneously investing in both family planning and maternal and newborn services can achieve the same dramatic outcomes for $1.5 billion less than investing in maternal and newborn health services alone.
“Investing in a handful of basic health services, like family planning and routine delivery care, can save millions of women and babies,” says Dr. Sharon Camp, President of the Guttmacher Institute. “It’s not rocket science. These are mostly simple services that can be provided inexpensively at the local level, supplemented by provision of urgent care when needed.”
LOLsob? LOLsob.
Discussion Thread: Personal Evaluation and Social Justice
Shaker Koach sends this Newsweek piece (which is almost a year old now, but is just intended as the starting point for the discussion) about a British researcher who found that women tend to underestimate their own intelligence and men tend to overestimate their own intelligence.
I don't particularly find that someone's (allegedly objectively quantifiable, ahem) "intelligence" is of any interest or use to me: Everyone I call a friend is clever as hell, but I'm sure some of them wouldn't score off the charts on an IQ test, and IQ tests measure neither common sense nor empathy nor creativity, which are all intelligences of their own.
And that doesn't even get us into the idea that treating a certain kind of intelligence, specifically expressed, is ablist in its frequent exclusion of the neuro-atypical.
All of which is to say that this discussion isn't really about the sort of limited definition of intelligence as defined by IQ test fetishists. It's really more a discussion about intelligence as defined by one's subjective and individual capabilities and potential—the evaluation thereof and its relationship to involvement in social justice work.
Because, going back to the article linked at the top of this post, I have an idea what might account for the disparity...
Do you find that your self-evaluation evolved after you came in contact with feminism/womanism, or anti-racism civil rights theory, or LGBTQI pride narratives, or disability blogs, etc.? (i.e. "I'm know I'm a fuckin' genius. Thanks, feminism!")
What about your evaluation of other people belonging to un-privileged groups of which you're not a member?
Discuss.
In Case You Were Wondering...
Pink Floyd, in fact, still rules the Billboard 200 charts:
With the revamping of the Billboard 200 last week to again include both current and catalog titles, one of the chart's landmark records is updated this week. At No. 189, Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" re-enters the chart for the first time since Oct. 8, 1988, logging a record-extending 742nd week on the survey.[H/T to Brain Damage]
The collection, which debuted on the tally on March 17, 1973, and spent a week at No. 1 on the April 28, 1973, chart, leads the album with the second-longest stay on the chart by 252 weeks (or 4.8 years). Here is a list, as of this week, of the releases with the longest chart lives on the 53-year-old Billboard 200 (with debut years in parentheses):
742 weeks, "Dark Side of the Moon," Pink Floyd (1973)
490 weeks, "Johnny's Greatest Hits," Johnny Mathis (1958)
480 weeks, "My Fair Lady," Original Cast (1956)
331 weeks, "Highlights From the Phantom of the Opera," Original Cast (1990)
302 weeks, "Tapestry," Carole King (1971)
The Pain. The Pain.
[Trigger warning.]
As you may recall, the inaugural post in the "This is a real thing in the world" series was a trailer for A&E's new reality series, Steven Seagal: Lawman.
Okay, so Iain and I watched the first two episodes this weekend, and it's more horrendous than you can even imagine.
First of all, the police force of which Seagal's a part is in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, and his unit—comprised exclusively of middle-aged white men—patrol an area that is extremely impoverished with a population that appears to be mostly black. And they spend the first two episodes basically acting out every negative narrative about white cops in black neighborhoods: Treating two black men sitting in a car as "suspicious activity," overzealous (I'm putting that nicely) use of the taser, arresting white men who started some shit and the black men (and woman) with whom they started it, being generally fascist and officious assholes in every way.
There's also an incredibly disturbing scene in which the cops are called to a bar in which the owner has called about a patron who's drunk off his ass and bothering the other customers, and refusing to leave. Despite the fact the way he's "bothering" the other customers is that he's been "touching the women inappropriately," he's sent on his way to "sleep it off." Har har—boys will be boys, amirite?
And yet, none of that is even what made the show unbearably painful to watch. What made it excruciating is that Steven Seagal is a wanker of mythic proportions. And he doesn't even know it.
Steven Seagal: Lawman is the adult story of the martial arts-obsessed weirdo kid in your middle school—not the one who was fun and witty and was totes okay with being seen as a bit of a dork by a less enlightened lot, but the one who generally believed he was cool and would stand off to one side doing karate kicks by himself after he got knocked out in dodgeball and who actually thought a good way to impress girls was by getting them in a headlock. It's that kid, all growed up, and saying things like "Don't think of me as Steven Seagal, movie star—think of me as Steven Seagal, the guy who could save your life" with a straight fucking face.
Seagal has no sense of humor about himself—none. And when you're a joke, not having a sense of humor about yourself makes you a colossal wanker.
It also makes the show incredibly difficult to watch.
The guys in Seagal's immediate unit aren't Jefferson Parish's finest. They seem like cops who are a bit past it—I don't mean old; my grandfather was NYPD and was fit and nimble and agile-minded and driven until the day he retired. I mean that these guys seem complacent, resigned. They look like the guys who were never good enough to make detective, basically—guys who are expendable while they fuck around with Steven Seagal and a camera crew. One, maybe two, seem in awe of him. The others seem like they're trying not to roll their eyes when Seagal says "the zen way" for the thousandth time in ten minutes, or mentions, yet again, that he's got 40 years of martial arts experience.
They all look miserable and embarrassed when subjected to Seagal teaching them aikido "moves" to dispossess a suspect of a weapon. He twists their arms and bends their fingers until they wince and beg for release. "It took me 40 years," he tells them, "but I've got to teach you in a day to save your lives."
When Seagal is put in front of a wide group of Jefferson Parish's finest to teach them some defensive maneuvers, there are officers who can barely stifle the laughter. It's absurd—spending an hour being taught random crap by Steven Seagal, STEVEN FUCKING SEAGAL, who gives no indication he understands how patently absurd it is.
At best, they're wondering who the fuck this dude thinks he is. And the thing is, he thinks he's their hero.
Grimace.
Yes, it's a real thing in the world. But I don't recommend watching it.
Quote of the Day
(Trigger warning: lethal violence)
"At the time, I thought to be a feminist meant you had to be militant." (...) "I realized many years later that in my life and actions, of course I was a feminist. I was a woman studying engineering and I held my head up."- Nathalie Provost (one of the four women who survived the Montreal Massacre after being wounded), in the Toronto Star
Tip of the CaitieCap to BC, a friend, and a fierce ally to Haitian activists for peace and justice in that country.
Healthcare Open Thread
The Hill—Obama meets Dems without addressing divisive issues; negotiations continue: "President Barack Obama gave Senate Democrats a 'pep talk' on healthcare Sunday, telling them they stood to make history if they passed a bill expanding healthcare coverage to millions of Americans. ... Obama didn't take questions from the senators or mention the two issues now dividing Senate Democrats and preventing passage of the bill: a government-run insurance plan and restrictions on federal funds for abortion."
Steve: "When the president emphasizes the 'sweep of history,' he's not focusing any attention on the granular details. That means, Obama spoke to the larger significance of the effort, and still wants lawmakers to resolve specific disputes—abortion, public option, immigration, cost controls, mandates, Medicare commission, etc.—on their own."
Echidne: "Here's what I just read: '...Thorny unresolved issues include the proposal for a government-run insurance plan; insurance coverage for abortion; cost-control measures, including the powers of an independent commission to rein in Medicare spending; and requirements for employers to provide health benefits to workers or pay a penalty.' That last sentence has so much material in it that it would take ten books to spell it all out, by the way. But nobody tries to spell any of it out. In particular, nobody spells out what happens if those 'thorns' are pruned out."
Raw Story—Public option likely to be removed from healthcare overhaul: "Chances that a so-called 'public option'—under which the government would set up competitors to private health insurers—appear to be dimming. ... Under the Democrats' new plan, the government would create a national health insurance plan similar to those offered federal employees. ... A Democratic aide quoted by Politico suggested that the new proposal could be used to sway progressives, who might be 'tricked' into believing that a government plan run by private companies was a public option."
Meanwhile...Stupak is accusing pro-choicers of deliberately misconstruing his amendment. As opposed to, y'know, what we've actually been doing, which is quite reasonably discussing its potential precedent-setting scope (e.g. not allowing women to use their own money to buy plans that cover abortion, when that plan is government-subsidized), instead of pretending, as he is, that it's merely "maintaining current law."
What the Hell?
Shaker Quixotess (right) and sister Mozi.
Is it just me, or does Mozi look a little bit frightened? Way to go, big sis!
[See also: Deeky, Liss, evilsciencechick, katecontinued, ClumsyKisses, Mistress Sparkletoes, Liiiz, Reedme, Mama Shakes, Mustang Bobby, RedSonja, MomTFH, Portly Dyke, SteffaB, Icca, Christina, Orangelion03, Car, Siobhan, InfamousQBert, Maud, Rikibeth, MishaRN, CLD, Cheezwiz, MamaCarrie, Temeraire, somebodyoranother, goldengirl, Liss (again), summerwing, yeomanpip, Susan811, bbl, Deeky (Part II), A Daily Shakesville Fan, Sami_J, liberalandproud, Temeraire: Redux, Mama Shakes II, Bonus Deeky, OuyangDan, J.Goff, Iain, Talonas, The Great Indoors, gogo, kiwi_a, em_and_ink, Tik_bev, phdintraining, Deeky Freakhands, busydani, Jenny Anne, rowmyboat, DesertRose, Steve/Pido, Anne Onymous, phredrika, The Last of the Famous International Deekys, Iain, Another Mustang Bobby, mkp-hearts-nyc, Arvan, Norbizness, Electrasteph, SteffaB, molliecat, Aestas, catvoncat, Filthy Grandeur, Shelly, Mighty Doll, IraeNicole, sevenhelz, the Shaker Halloween Special, Mistress Sparkletoes, Neilleast, NapalmNacey, Rowan_Bristol, ChelseaWantsOut, Phyllis, PlusSizedFeminist, Carleigh, and SaltyKipper.]
It Was Twenty Years Ago Today...
...and goddess, but I wish I could finish that sentence with "Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play", but in reality it's a much more grim anniversary.
(Trigger warning: extreme violence, suicide)
Twenty years ago today, a savage misogynist threw himself into L'école polytechnique de Montréal with a rifle, chose out the women among classes of engineering students, and shot fourteen of them to death. He also wounded fourteen others, ten women and four men, before killing himself. Twelve of the dead were engineering students, one a nursing student, the other an administrator.
While he was doing this, he shouted about how he was fighting back against feminism, saving society, and getting revenge for how women had mistreated him.
The long-range effects were also grim: several of the survivors have since taken their own lives, unable to cope with the events of the day, according to notes.
I'm not using his name because I don't believe in giving remembrance to mass murderers. Let his name rot along with him. Please don't use it in comments either, I request most strongly.
His victims:
* Geneviève Bergeron (born 1968), civil engineering student
* Hélène Colgan (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
* Nathalie Croteau (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
* Barbara Daigneault (born 1967), mechanical engineering student
* Anne-Marie Edward (born 1968), chemical engineering student
* Maud Haviernick (born 1960), materials engineering student
* Maryse Laganière (born 1964), budget clerk in the École Polytechnique's finance department
* Maryse Leclair (born 1966), materials engineering student
* Anne-Marie Lemay (born 1967), mechanical engineering student
* Sonia Pelletier (born 1961), mechanical engineering student
* Michèle Richard (born 1968), materials engineering student
* Annie St-Arneault (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
* Annie Turcotte (born 1969), materials engineering student
* Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz (born 1958), nursing student
Je me souviens.
Submitted Without Comment
Correction: "A Nov. 26 article in the District edition of Local Living incorrectly said a Public Enemy song declared 9/11 a joke. The song refers to 911, the emergency phone number." — The Washington Post.
Quote of the Day
"If he works for the government, he'll get the same [healthcare] I have."—Senator Judd Gregg (R-Elentlesslydouchy), offering some hot advice to uninsured Americans. I guess bigger government is the new Republican platform…?
Dr. Nancy: —losing their healthcare. So what do you say to the average American who's played by all the rules, who can't have the same healthcare that you have, and you're one of our elected officials?Missing the Point Award.
Gregg:Well, uh, you know, if he, if he joins [laughs]—if he works for the government, he'll get the same I have. I mean, I have the same healthcare as a person who works for the Secret Service, works for the FBI, or works down at the local federal building. I mean, I don't have anything different than what an average federal [employee has].
Blub
[Trigger warning.]
107 slave laborers freed in Mexico City:
Mexican authorities have freed 107 indigenous people who officials say were being held as slave laborers in a Mexico City factory disguised as a drug rehabilitation center.There is much, much more at the link.
Twenty-three suspects were arrested in Thursday's raid, said Miguel Angel Mancera, Mexico City's attorney general. Two more were arrested Friday morning, officials said.
The victims ranged from 14 to 70 years old, and some were tortured, Mancera told CNN affiliate TV Azteca. Some victims also suffered sexual abuse, he said.
"They were beaten," he said. "Several have wounds, serious wounds. We even have some of the victims with fractures."
All of the victims were suffering from severe dehydration and malnutrition, he said. Some were taken to a hospital.
The captives, some of whom speak only indigenous languages and no Spanish, were locked in the building, which had bars on the windows and a fence outside, he said.
They made handbags and clothespins and were not paid. Their only daily meal consisted of chicken legs and rotten vegetables, Mancera said.
"The vast majority of the food we found was spoiled," he said.
Video of the inside of the building showed filthy and crowded living conditions.
The men and women worked 8 a.m. to midnight and were given only a half-hour food break. They were not allowed to go to the bathroom, and many soiled themselves, officials said.
The attorney general labeled it "cruel and inhuman treatment." The victims, he said, were abused mentally and physically, "with all sorts of pressure."
Most of the victims were nabbed off the street by some of the suspects under the guise of giving them treatment for alcoholism or drug addiction, the attorney general said.
"They take them by force, and they take them with the argument that they need to be rehabilitated, that they are addicts," Mancera said.
A few of the victims were brought there by family members who thought their loved ones would receive addiction treatment.
The facility has a sign in front identifying it as Hospital Santo Tomas, Los Eligidos de Dios, which means "St. Thomas Hospital, Those Chosen by God."
I don't know what to say, besides this: Human trafficking and slavery is an issue all over the planet, in every country, and in our backyards, wherever we are. There are some great organizations working to end human trafficking and slavery, and we can help by supporting them. Please feel free to leave links to organizations you support in comments. I will recommend donating to the Polaris Project.
Every teaspoon counts.
Headline of the Day
"U.S. Launches Operation Cobra's Anger in Afghanistan." What the fuck is this? A bad Eighties action flick? Please tell me J.T. Walsh is now our Secretary of Defense.
[Cross-posted.]
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
Strips One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80. In which Liss reimagines the long-running comic "Frank & Ernest," about two old straight white guys "telling it like it is," as a fat feminist white woman and a biracial queerbait telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.
Polanski Released
Roman Polanski has posted $4.5 million bail and been released from prison. He retired to the comfort of his ski chalet, where he was greeted "by his children, Elvis, 9, and Morgane, 16, and his wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner. There were also scores of reporters and camera crews outside to capture the moment."
Heartwarming.
Daily Kitteh
"What's going on up there?"
"What's going on up there?"
"I am Catacus!"
"You're totally fucking Dummacus. Get down from there."
"What are you rebelling against? The cuddling? The treats?"
"This revolution isn't over!"
"Seriously. There's no revolution. Please keep feeding us."
The Death of My Wit
[Spoiler warning for last night's episode of The Office.]
Did anyone else watch The Office last night? And, if so, did you find it as upsetting as I did?
I don't even know why the hell I watch that show anymore, because it just constantly infuriates me, but last night's episode was just a whole new level of horrible.
The premise is that, ten years earlier, in yet another one of his fits of jackassery, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) had promised a group of elementary school students that he would pay for their college educations if they graduated high school. So, a decade goes by, and it's time to cough up—and of course he can't.
Eventually he goes to visit the students, known as "Scott's Tots," who put on a big show of appreciation and give speeches about what a difference it will make in their lives to have their educations funded, and, OMG, it's just unbearably painful as the plot builds until the moment when Michael will have to tell them he made an empty promise.
The moment finally arrives, and Michael spills the awful news. The students begin to shout angrily; cut to commercial. When the show resumes, Michael is outside the school, and one student has chased him outside and calmly asks what he's supposed to do now. Michael offers to pay for his books. Only his. And makes a big deal about how expensive they are—har har this guy can't even pay for one kid's books.
The denouement of this story finds Michael in the car on the way home, being driven by the receptionist, Erin. He is stewing about having "destroyed 15 young lives today." Erin tries to cheer him up; he insults her—"You're what? Like 12?" She tries again: "The principal told me that 90% of Scott's Tots are on track to graduate and that's 35% higher than the rest of the school, so, I think if you hadn't made that promise, a lot of them would've dropped out. Which is something to think about, I think." Michael then feels all better. Yay!
All of this would have been bad enough on its own, but—have you guessed the part that makes it extra hilaritragic yet?!—the promise was made at an inner-city school and Scott's Tots are almost all people of color.
It was...hard to watch. I actually felt physically anxious and upset watching it. The more I thought about what the (totes ironic!) punchline to all this was, the more I felt like retching.
A few days ago, Iain was sort of pondering aloud how he feels like his sense of humor used to be sharper, like he used to be wittier. I said, "Maybe you've just realized that some of the stuff you used to find 'witty' is really just cruelty wrapped in a joking tone."
He contemplated that for a moment. "Yeah. Yeah, I think you're probably right."
I have suffered the same death of "wit."
In Which I Substitute an Email Conversation with Liss and Sparkletoes for an Actual Post
Mistress Sparkletoes: OFFS.
Liss: Is it just me, or does the new Sunmaid girl also look darker-skinned, as if to suggest she might be an "ethnic" migrant worker? Ahem.
Deeky: LOL! I hadn't considered that. I just thought she was tanned. Because all the hot chicks tan. Amirite?
Liss: Yes, and the way all the hot migrant worker chicks tan is by working in the blazing sun all fucking day. Back-breaking, but cheaper than your local "Xtreme Tropix Tanning Salon. Walk-ins welcome!"
Deeky: Xtreme Tropix. I hate you. LOL!
Sparkeltoes: Mmm... cocoa butter!
Liss: Know what goes great with cocoa butter...? Raisins.
Poor Glenn Beck (not really)
At $20 per ticket, Glenn thought he could get all of his fans and 9/12'ers to buy him a new condo by rallying to the movie theaters to see the film adaptation (i.e. a stage performance with one actor) of his book The Christmas Sweater - A Return To Redemption. It looks like most people have better things to spend their money on:
In New York, Beck sold 17 tickets. In Boston, another 17. And in Washington, D.C., the hotbed of political activism, his tearful film drew only 30. [...]Excuse me for a second while I laugh hysterically.
The viewing in Lynnwood, WA -- the closest one to Beck's Mount Vernon hometown -- sold out several hours before the show began. Ten miles south, 70 out of 415 seats had been snagged in Seattle, a better turnout than other cities.
OK. I'm back.
In case anyone is curious what kind of performance art Glenn is capable of, here's a review excerpt:
The Christmas Sweater may seem to be the same kind of run-of-the-mill holiday tale of redemption and hope that we see every year about this time. But considering that the climax involves right-wing talk-show host Glenn Beck, in the guise of a 12 year old version of himself, crying on the stage floor in the fetal position while a large black woman sings hymns to him, I think it might leave viewers with a few more questions than the usual family fare. [...]I think I'll save $20 and stick to A Charlie Brown Christmas.
The bulk of the evening consists solely of Glenn Beck acting out every role in his hokey story, with only his limited repertoire of accents and pantomime filling out the ‘cast’. Sure, there are a few TV’s behind him on stage, but they only show, at the most, ten or twelve still photos the entire time. And they couldn’t even get that right. Despite only needing a few sound effects, I counted several missed cues, and near the end, Beck talks to the wrong camera for a solid minute. I’m at a loss as to how someone so media-savvy could put out something so aggressively half-ass.
[H/T to ThinkProgress]
Huh?
I saw this ad the other day. It raised more questions than it answered.
What's with the random dude (sans shirt)? What about him says refinancing? Is he supposed to represent the Everyman? Or the U.S. government? And why isn't he wearing a shirt? Maybe his high mortgage payments have cost him the shirt off his back. Hell, I dunno. It just seemed very, very odd to me.
[Cross-posted.]
If You Use Contraceptives, You Will Not Be Raptured
This is, on one hand, comical in its total absurdity (hmm, you know, I'm actually quite fine with the idea that using contraception will prevent me from being raptured, as they'll also prevent me from being pregnant)—and, on the other, terrifying in its reckless recommendations against safe sex and appalling in its casual indifference toward people with AIDS who are shruggingly dismissed as merely "paying the consequences" for aggrieving God. Hatred is somehow preferable to this bloodless apathy.
People who hate at least have emotions that be appealed to, in the hopes of changing their minds.
[I've done a transcript, which is below. Video via Jill.]
Title Card: REVELATION UNRAVELED.
[An older white man stands outside in a snow-covered landscape, wearing a parka.]
William Tapley: Welcome to Revelation Unraveled. I'm your host, William Tapley [onscreen text: William Tapley, Third Eagle of the Apocalypse], also known as the Third Eagle of the Apocalypse, and the co-prophet of the End Times. In this program, I want to talk about contraception—and how using that will prevent you from being raptured.
Last week, the Pope made news headlines by saying that you cannot prevent AIDS through the use of condoms—and of course, he was correct. The only true way of preventing AIDS, or any other sexually transmitted diseases, is through a monogamous relationship between a husband and a wife.
Now I'm sure you Bible-believing Christians already know this: In Genesis, chapter 38, God shows his displeasure with contraception when he kills Onan. Onan uses the Planned Parenthood technique called withdrawal; that is, he spilled his seed upon the ground; and God was so displeased with this that he killed Onan.
Now I know a lot of people think, "Well, the Pope should not make the rules." They like to say: "If you don't play the game, you don't get to make the rules." But, of course, this is another lie from Satan. Can you tell me any game in which the player makes the rules? Did Mickey Mantle make the rules for baseball? Did Michael Jordan make the rules for basketball? Of course not. The person who makes the rules for any game is the inventor of the game.
And so I ask you: Who invented the game of sex? God invented the game of sex, and therefore, he gets to make the rules. And if you don't live by those rules, you will pay the consequences. In this life, you will get sexually transmitted diseases. And in the next life, you will suffer for all eternity. But in these end times, the most important thing for you to understand is that you will not be raptured if you are using condoms or any other kind of contraceptives.
Remember, when Jesus is talking about the rapture, in the Olivet Discourse, the parable he uses is about five wise and five foolish virgins. When St. John talks about the raptured protestants, one of the twelve characteristics are that they are virgins. Now this does not necessarily mean celibacy, but it certainly means chastity—and you cannot be chaste if you are using contraceptives.
Please do not expect to be raptured if you are into fornication, if you are into adultery, and if you are into contraceptives.
I know you won't get this message from Jack Van Impe, Hal Lindsey, John Hagee, or any of the other false prophets. That's because they want to give you a popular message. But you need to understand, for more than 400 years, even the protestant denominations preached against contraceptives.
Please don't be fooled by Satan. If you want to be raptured, if you want to be protected, you must live a virtuous life, as far as sexuality goes. Very, very few are going to be saved from the reign of tribulation.
St. John says only 144,000 will be raptured. That means that 99.99% of all Christians must face the great trial. And, in fact, God sends the great tribulation in order to test us, in order to bring us through the fire, so that we will be worthy to reign, with him, during the millennium.
And if you would like more information, simply write to the address [onscreen text: Third Eagle Books, 3038 Wall Street, Forestport, NY 13338] you see on your screen.
I Write Letters
Dear Experts at the University of Leeds:
Thank you, from the bottom of my cleavage, for dedicating yourselves to the important scientific pursuit of discerning the precisely right amount of skin I should show as a lady—40%—in order to find that balance which unmistakably conveys I'm horny and available but totes not a slut.
I'm also absolutely thrilled to finally be armed with the invaluable knowledge that "the most popular women [at nightclubs] combined the 40 per cent rule with tight clothing and provocative dancing."
Now I can finally ditch boring old Iain who fell in love with me (and I with him) across 4,000 miles via long and winding conversations about compelling topics, without the slightest regard for what I was wearing, and shake my perfect percentage-clad booty to pick up a dude at a nightclub.
Keep up the good work!
Love,
Liss
cc. Fannie
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, makers of Deeky's Giant Exfoliation Gloves.
Recommended Reading:
Ginmar: Thank You for Your Service
Audacia: Online Course on Disability, Sexuality, and Rights
Andy: Uganda: 'Kill Gays' Bill 'Likely to Pass
Resistance: Boo!
Melissa: Sexism Watch: Hollywood Reporter's List of Top Films of the Decade
SarahMC: Have Yourself a Rapey Little Christmas
Mannion: Announcing the First Ever I Hate Robert Altman Film Festival
Leave your links in comments...
Of Course
In the WaPo's piece on the current state of the Senate healthcare legislation, titled, "Reid's recipe for getting health-care deal done," we find that Senator Ben Nelson (D-Umbass) has the recipe for mucking it up and driving progressive women even further from the Democratic Party:
As of late Thursday, the abortion issue remained the biggest point of contention. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who is among a handful of potential defections who could foil Reid in his quest for 60 votes, is expected to offer an amendment as soon as Friday that would ban abortion coverage in the Senate bill's scaled-back public plan. Nelson's measure would also prohibit people who receive tax credits for private health-care coverage from buying policies that include abortion services. Speaking to reporters Thursday morning, Nelson declared flatly that if his amendment fails, "I won't vote to move [the bill] off the floor."I'll say it again: This is the inevitable result of the Blue Dog-Big Orange-Conservative Democrat-win-at-all-costs fuckery that demoted women's fundamental right to bodily autonomy to a negotiable platform plank.
And let us not forget that abortion rights were considered a legit bargaining chip because it was MORE IMPORTANT to win back the Congress and the White House so we could end those two wars and stop extraordinary rendition and close Guantanamo and end the era of presidential secrecy and...
This week alone, Obama has escalated the war in Afghanistan, renewed his promise to close Guantanamo (thereby kicking that can yet further down the road), and invoked the separation of powers to prevent one of his staff from testifying before Congress.
That the willingness to compromise on my basic autonomy ain't working any better for the people who were willing to throw my rights under the bus is no comfort at all. In fact, it somehow makes the whole goddamned mess even worse.
Hopefully, unlike Stupak's amendment in the House, Nelson's will be defeated in the Senate.
Of course, even if it is, that doesn't mean some anti-choice horseshit won't end up in the final bill after reconciliation, anyway. More wait and see...
What Kind of Man Can't Control His Woman?!
Shaker SapphireCate emails:
Sending along an article from Murdoch's British flagship The Times: The Speaker of the House of commons (who was originally elected as a Tory) is married to a woman who is standing as a candidate for Labour. She decided, the tabloid press being what it is, to air all her skeletons in advance - namely that she is a recovering alcoholic (she doesn't use the phrase, but it's pretty clear from the article) and that she had casual sex before marriage.Indeed! Imagine the state of Britain today if Lord Thatcher hadn't kept "The Boss" in line while allowing her to lead the Tories for more than a decade!
The sad and predictable reaction - in an on-the-record quote (by a woman MP!) was:
"How can we ask the people to trust us, when the man who holds us to account has such poor judgment that he allowed his wife to give such an appalling, self-obsessed interview?" [my emphasis].
Aside from what this comment reveals about what the Tories (conservatives) broadly think about gender equality, it's also indicative of their belief about how Britain should be governed: By an iron-fisted leader whose first order of business is to control the people. And any man who can't control his woman isn't fit for the job.
Question of the Day
[We've done this one before, but most recently a year ago already...]
What's your personal theme song?
[Lyrics below.]
I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation
You're living in the past; it's a new generation
A girl can do what she wants to do
And that's what I'm gonna do
And I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation
Oh no, not me
And I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation
Never said I wanted to improve my station
And I'm only doin' good when I'm havin' fun
And I don't have to please no one
And I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation
Oh no, not me
Oh no, not me
I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation
I've never been afraid of any deviation
And I don't really care if ya think I'm strange
I ain't gonna change
And I'm never gonna care 'bout my bad reputation
Oh no, not me
Oh no, not me
(Pedal boys!)
And I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation
The world's in trouble; there's no communication
And everyone can say what they want to say
It never gets better anyway
So why should I care 'bout a bad reputation
Anyway
Oh no, not me
Oh no, not me
I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation
You're living in the past; it's a new generation
And I only feel good when I got no pain
And that's how I'm gonna stay
And I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation
Oh no, not me
Oh no, not me
Not me, not me!
I Like Matt Damon
I have mentioned once or twice before that I like Matt Damon. But, listen, it's not my fault that I'm a broken record: The guy keeps giving me reasons to like him.
One of the things I like about him a lot is the way he speaks about his family, his wife and three daughters. Speaking about them respectfully, movingly, and talking about how much he loves spending time with them, is a big teaspoon in a world in which men and fathers often speak about female partners and daughters as though they're a different species, or make "jokes" about the old ball-and-chain har har.
"I have come to judge good jobs and good directors by how my wife feels about them," Damon, 39, told guests at Tuesday's Museum of the Moving Image gala in New York City honoring Eastwood, 79. "And my wife loves Clint Eastwood."It shouldn't be notable to read about a famous man who regards his wife as his equal, and values her opinion, and their daughters as deserving of more respect than jokes about living on Venus. But it is.
..."Not only because her husband was happy everyday when he came home but because I got to do what I wanted to do and the way I wanted to do it," said Damon, who stars in Eastwood's Invictus (which, in Latin, means "unconquered"), due in theaters Dec. 11.
...Eastwood's quick turnaround filming schedule allowed Damon to spend daily quality family time with his wife and daughters, Alexia, 11, Isabella, 3, and Gia, 1.
"I had breakfast with [Luciana] and the kids every morning and dinner with them every night," says the proud dad. "I never thought I was sacrificing either family life or my work. It was perfect and that's the life that I hope I can crave out for myself as I go forward."
It's also unusual to hear a man speak so frankly about how a great work environment translates into a happier home life, a subject generally considered the purview of working mothers.
Quote of the Day
"Unfortunately Hollywood is still a system that doesn't produce a lot of great parts for black women and doesn't produce a lot of parts for women who aren't conventionally beautiful. And that's not going to change overnight."—Casting director Mark Bennett, on whether the film industry can find a place for Gabby Sidibe after Precious.
I find it profoundly depressing that this woman is not considered conventionally beautiful:
I am not surprised, naturally; I am well-versed in the bigotries of the image-makers driving the dominant/oppressive culture. But I still find it depressing.
Later in the same article, casting director Eyde Belasco (who cast Sidibe in another film, Yelling to the Sky) says: "Gabby does have a very specific look. But, hopefully, filmmakers and casting directors will want the best actress for the role."
A very specific look. The look of the women I see reaching for cereal at the grocery store, buying popcorn at the movies, waiting for their names to be called at the doctor's office, ordering food at a restaurant. The look of women at the other end of my phone. The look of women who are my friends and colleagues and neighbors.
Unconventionally beautiful women, all of them.
I live in a world that is impossibly full of unconventionally beautiful women.
Women's Healthcare Update
The Senate has passed the healthcare bill amendment proposed by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) which "would require insurance companies to offer free mammograms and other preventive services to women."
"The insurance companies take being a woman as a pre-existing condition," Ms. Mikulski said. "We face so many issues and hurdles. We can't get health care. We can't get health insurance because of pre-existing conditions called a C-section."Like other amendments to the bill, there's no guarantee it will end up in the final legislation, but it's good news that it passed.
She added, "My amendment offers key preventive services, including an annual women'’s health screening that would go to a comprehensive assessment, including the dangers to women in heart disease and in diabetes."
Here's something interesting, though: Senator Russ Feingold, normally one of the most progressive Democrats in the Senate, voted against the amendment. His reason?
"I am disappointed that the Senate health care debate has gotten off on the wrong foot," he said. "The first amendment voted on would add almost a billion dollars to our budget deficits over the next 10 years. We should make sure health plans cover women's preventive care and screenings, but we should also find a way to pay for it, rather than adding that cost to the already mountainous public debt."Echidne's response is spot-on: "Note how leaving these services out from the initial proposal can then make them into the bugbear that will bankrupt us."
This is the kind of shit that fuels conservatives' "special rights" memes about women, the LGBTQI community, people of color, people with disabilities, etc. People are excluded on the basis of not being straight, white, abled, cis men, and then when they propose legislation to lift them from the margins, they're accused of wanting "special rights."
It's absolutely despairing to see Feingold playing this game. I understand—and share—concerns about the cost of the healthcare reform as it's being conceived (i.e. with undeserved consideration for protecting insurance industry profits), but the attempt to ensure that women's basic healthcare isn't treated like something incidental to healthcare reform is not the place to make that point.
Daily Kitteh
From the Mailbag
As ever, I've just gotten a ton of good stuff lately, and I regret not being able to write a unique post about every one of them. Items that are potentially triggering are prefaced with [TW].
[TW] Shakers Medusa Jones, Twings, and Hillevi all sent this great piece by Patrick Stewart (yes, that Patrick Stewart) on the legacy of domestic violence.
Shaker Icca forwards one for the Assvertising pile: "I saw this Excedrin Migraine commercial today that was really infuriating! I couldn't find it on YouTube, but basically it's this ad where this woman has a migraine and it says 'Don't let your migraine become someone else's pain.' Then it shows the woman swinging her daughter around as they frolic happily. Because it's not about easing your suffering, it's about fulfilling your duty as mom! That's the only reason you might want relief from a MIGRAINE. Oof."
[TW] Shaker Erica sends one to be filed under "Rape is REALLY Hilarious": The Sex Offender Shuffle. I am wordless. I am without words.
Shaker Leigh emails about more Amazon fail, this time in the racism department: "Guess Amazon didn't get the 'post-racial america' memo...not only is this lovely item in-stock, but they have a whole array of delightful mammy and pappy products."
Shaker Melanie also sends a contemptible ad: "I couldn't not alert you to this arrrgggghhhh! assvertisement/contest for Orangina (and the ad-dude's response to it). I don't even really want to call it assvertising, because ass is exactly what it's reveling in."
[TW] Shaker Claudia forwards this article about a 39-year-old female teacher in Britain who has been jailed for 32 months and placed on the sex offenders' register for statutorily raping a 15-year-old male student. Claudia notes that not only does the author essentially assert that being a woman should make one immune to statutory rape charges, but "she is buying into the idea that young boys should be pursuing sex and young girls should not." Claudia also wisely notes that if the student had been female, there would almost certainly be outraged accusations of "gay recruitment." Indeed, and yet a female teacher statutorily raping a male student is regarded as normal by virtue of its service to heterocentrism.
[TW] Shaker BlueRidge emails about a report on rape in Afghanistan: "Rape in Afghanistan is under-reported, concealed and a human rights problem of 'profound proportions,' the United Nations said on Monday." Which makes Afghanistan like most places in the world; what's exceptional is that "there is no explicit provision in the 1976 Afghan penal code that criminalises rape." Justice is not merely elusive, but has not even an illusion of attainment.
[TW] Shaker Lynsey forwards this clusterfuck of a story about "a 66-year-old church elder convicted of indecently assaulting a child [who] will not be sent to jail" because of his "lack of mobility, ulcerated legs and need for frequent dressings amounted to 'wholly exceptional circumstances'." The headline deems him "too fat for jail."
And finally, to end on an up-note, Shaker Gretchen sends this great profile of 9th Circuit Court Federal Judge Betty Fletcher. I love the caption on the photo: "Betty Fletcher, 86, is a liberal icon and the most powerful woman in Seattle you've never heard of. Sadly for conservatives, she just won't stop working." LOL!
Rest in the Peace You Couldn't Find Here
[Trigger warning for suicide and transphobia.]
Shaker TheDeviantE emailed me about the suspected suicide of LA Times sportswriter Mike Penner, aka Christine Daniels, whose (aborted) public transitioning to womanhood was chronicled in a blog titled "Woman in Progress" under the name Christine Daniels.
We discussed Penner's coming out here when it was announced in 2007; I did not realize that "by October 2008 Penner had quietly gone back to work as a man." I don't know the reasons for Penner's decision to halt transitioning, although I can imagine, especially given hir (I don't know how zie would have preferred to be identified, so I am using gender-neutral pronouns) decision to take hir own life. Zie had to face, very publicly, a metric fuckton of hatred and bigotry.
TheDeviantE writes (which I am publishing with his permission):
[The article on Yahoo was front-paged under the headline] "Transsexual Los Angeles Times sportswriter found dead" whereas the article's title itself is "LA Times sports writer Mike Penner dead at 52" so in one case it is sensationalizing it, in the other they are glossing over the fact that the writer came out as trans (with a different name) over 2 years ago. Also frustrating is their insistence in using the birth name and male pronouns, even when talking about the time of her life when she publicly identified as a woman.I don't know what else I can add, except for this: Mike/Christine is one of the many people whose names don't make it onto the list of victims published on the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Zie was not murdered, but zie is almost certainly dead due to transphobia, at least in part, nonetheless.
Besides the horrible transphobic stuff in the article itself is the tragedy of it of course. This is a woman who took decades to finally be able to be true to herself, only to (seemingly) be unable to deal with the world once she had finally been able to come out. It just reminds me of the "real life test" or "real life experience" that is STILL being forced on those of us who can't find trans friendly professionals to help us. The article though doesn't bother to mention any thing other than that she "eventually dropped the 'Woman in Transition' blog and returned to writing under the name Mike Penner." Um yeah. I wonder why trying to be a sports writer as a woman, let a lone a famously trans woman could be difficult, and why she might go back to her old name. They could have used this as an opportunity to have talked about greater societal issues, instead they used inappropriate pronouns, sensationalized it, and made it generally horrible.
I resolve again to be an uncompromising ally to my trans sisters and brothers, actively, every day.
RIP.
Eulogies from friends: Scott French and Kevin Bronson.
We Interrupt...
...your regularly scheduled installment of "Conniving & Sinister" to bring you a very special episode of the Adventures of Spudsy:
[Adventures of Spudsy: One.]
What the Hell?
Shaker SaltyKipper.
(second from left)
Wearing, as she describes it, a "totally hot as shit home-made fairy costume."
[See also: Deeky, Liss, evilsciencechick, katecontinued, ClumsyKisses, Mistress Sparkletoes, Liiiz, Reedme, Mama Shakes, Mustang Bobby, RedSonja, MomTFH, Portly Dyke, SteffaB, Icca, Christina, Orangelion03, Car, Siobhan, InfamousQBert, Maud, Rikibeth, MishaRN, CLD, Cheezwiz, MamaCarrie, Temeraire, somebodyoranother, goldengirl, Liss (again), summerwing, yeomanpip, Susan811, bbl, Deeky (Part II), A Daily Shakesville Fan, Sami_J, liberalandproud, Temeraire: Redux, Mama Shakes II, Bonus Deeky, OuyangDan, J.Goff, Iain, Talonas, The Great Indoors, gogo, kiwi_a, em_and_ink, Tik_bev, phdintraining, Deeky Freakhands, busydani, Jenny Anne, rowmyboat, DesertRose, Steve/Pido, Anne Onymous, phredrika, The Last of the Famous International Deekys, Iain, Another Mustang Bobby, mkp-hearts-nyc, Arvan, Norbizness, Electrasteph, SteffaB, molliecat, Aestas, catvoncat, Filthy Grandeur, Shelly, Mighty Doll, IraeNicole, sevenhelz, the Shaker Halloween Special, Mistress Sparkletoes, Neilleast, NapalmNacey, Rowan_Bristol, ChelseaWantsOut, Phyllis, PlusSizedFeminist, and Carleigh.]
