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Jun. 24th, 2012 05:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwydion* Dr. Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood has won the Egyptian election. I am no fan of the Muslim Brotherhood, but they pretty clearly won the election and the military being willing to abide by the election is an important step towards Democracy. There are still issues due to the Military stripping presidential powers, dissolving the parliament, and giving themselves the power to veto the constitution. If they had over ridden the election, that would be it as far as Arab Spring gains in Egypt, and I suspect violence would have resulted as it would have been all to do over again. As 57% of the people who voted first round of Presidential elections voted for secular candidates, at least there is hope that the moderates will be able to get their shit together next time around. If there had been a full fledged military coup, I am frightened of how that would have turned out. As unhappy as a majority of Egyptians were with the run off election choices were, this looks to be the lesser of evils. Now is not the time for panic. In case people are curious what our government has been doing, Hilary Clinton was out gently pressuring the junta to let the election results stand.
* I know that reinstituting Jim Crow and particularly denying POC their right to vote as citizens is an extremely popular idea with Republicans right now, but it is fundamentally against what we stand for as a country and pretty fucking evil. Can't we for once put the good of the country as a whole over partisan gain? If Republican ideas are so good and popular, why are they so terrified of fair elections?
* On Black Churches trying to fight voter suppression: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/melissa-harris-perry/46419672#47938040
* On Gay Pride Month: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/melissa-harris-perry/46419672#47938081
Pt. 2: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/melissa-harris-perry/46419672#47938140
* I love that Melissa Harris-Perry remembers that the T in LGBTQ isn't silent: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/melissa-harris-perry/46419672#47937589
* The role of an Volcano in homid migrations and possibly giving modern humans the edge over Neanderthals: http://phys.org/news/2012-06-italian-super-eruption-larger-thought.html
* "Why Homo erectus Lived Like a Baboon:" http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/hominids/2012/06/why-homo-erectus-lived-like-a-baboon/
* "Japanese Tomb Found To House Rare Artifacts From Roman Empire:" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/23/japanese-tomb-found-roman-empire-artifact_n_1621090.html
* Bulgarian Vampires in Context: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/409855
* Penguin Sex: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18370797
* On the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/backissues/2012/06/the-war-of-1812.html
* The cats and I slept in, me dreaming a particularly complex zombie apocalypse scenario. After, I finished reading Tempest Rising and watching Pushing Daisies. PD still annoys me for the erasure, cliches, and the -isms, but the design aesthetic was so amazing that I stuck it out anyway. I am glad they did have a chance to tie up the plot at the end, rather than leaving it hanging.
* Tempest Rising was a mixed bag. I read these things for the plot, rather than the porn, so I generally skim over all but the first sex scene. Plot wise, there wasn't much mystery to the mystery and all the plot twists were so obvious that they don't really even count as curves. On the negative, it's the usual trope of a woman with less power and a supernatural lover with more power, said weaker woman needing rescue repeatedly. It was also very, very white. Sigh. I also found the endless negative self esteem spiral unpleasant and repetative, though realistic, given the circumstances. On the upside, there was lesbian representation, though of course not with the main character, as is typical with supernatural romance, though the main character may be bi (not explored, but strong hints). Also on the upside, the use of condoms was prominent and unlike most supernatural romance heroines, she doesn't just take her new lover's word that he can't impregnate her or give her STDs. Three cheers for that! Three cheers also for them modelling in the first sex scene that she needed extra clitoral stimulation to cum rather than just vaginal intercourse. While obviously, this is nothing that has ever effected my RL sex life, I have seen a whole lot of angst over the years in places like the BPAL sex thread because about 70% of women need extra stimulation by hand or vibrator to cum. There's all this shame on the part of a lot of women because the culture tells them that's not how it's "supposed" to work, except 70% of vaginas say it is how it usually works. There's also all this pressure from male partners not to use hand or vibrator during sex because he wants to "give" her an orgasm himself, which leads to her not getting off, often for years. Looks pretty selfish to me. As a result I strongly approve of more porn for women that includes extra stimulation to let all those women know they aren't alone and that a good man isn't threatened by her sliding her hand down there. Other positive non-porn elements include her healing from trauma, there being no sexual assault in the book or background anywhere, and the heroine resolving to work hard at her training so that she never needs rescuing again.
* I clearly need a bottle of Uncle Traveling Matt. Omnomnom.
* Beach Cake: http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2012/6/24/sunday-sweets-goes-to-the-beach.html
* I know that reinstituting Jim Crow and particularly denying POC their right to vote as citizens is an extremely popular idea with Republicans right now, but it is fundamentally against what we stand for as a country and pretty fucking evil. Can't we for once put the good of the country as a whole over partisan gain? If Republican ideas are so good and popular, why are they so terrified of fair elections?
* On Black Churches trying to fight voter suppression: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/melissa-harris-perry/46419672#47938040
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
* On Gay Pride Month: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/melissa-harris-perry/46419672#47938081
Pt. 2: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/melissa-harris-perry/46419672#47938140
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
* I love that Melissa Harris-Perry remembers that the T in LGBTQ isn't silent: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/melissa-harris-perry/46419672#47937589
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
* The role of an Volcano in homid migrations and possibly giving modern humans the edge over Neanderthals: http://phys.org/news/2012-06-italian-super-eruption-larger-thought.html
* "Why Homo erectus Lived Like a Baboon:" http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/hominids/2012/06/why-homo-erectus-lived-like-a-baboon/
* "Japanese Tomb Found To House Rare Artifacts From Roman Empire:" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/23/japanese-tomb-found-roman-empire-artifact_n_1621090.html
* Bulgarian Vampires in Context: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/409855
* Penguin Sex: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18370797
* On the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/backissues/2012/06/the-war-of-1812.html
* The cats and I slept in, me dreaming a particularly complex zombie apocalypse scenario. After, I finished reading Tempest Rising and watching Pushing Daisies. PD still annoys me for the erasure, cliches, and the -isms, but the design aesthetic was so amazing that I stuck it out anyway. I am glad they did have a chance to tie up the plot at the end, rather than leaving it hanging.
* Tempest Rising was a mixed bag. I read these things for the plot, rather than the porn, so I generally skim over all but the first sex scene. Plot wise, there wasn't much mystery to the mystery and all the plot twists were so obvious that they don't really even count as curves. On the negative, it's the usual trope of a woman with less power and a supernatural lover with more power, said weaker woman needing rescue repeatedly. It was also very, very white. Sigh. I also found the endless negative self esteem spiral unpleasant and repetative, though realistic, given the circumstances. On the upside, there was lesbian representation, though of course not with the main character, as is typical with supernatural romance, though the main character may be bi (not explored, but strong hints). Also on the upside, the use of condoms was prominent and unlike most supernatural romance heroines, she doesn't just take her new lover's word that he can't impregnate her or give her STDs. Three cheers for that! Three cheers also for them modelling in the first sex scene that she needed extra clitoral stimulation to cum rather than just vaginal intercourse. While obviously, this is nothing that has ever effected my RL sex life, I have seen a whole lot of angst over the years in places like the BPAL sex thread because about 70% of women need extra stimulation by hand or vibrator to cum. There's all this shame on the part of a lot of women because the culture tells them that's not how it's "supposed" to work, except 70% of vaginas say it is how it usually works. There's also all this pressure from male partners not to use hand or vibrator during sex because he wants to "give" her an orgasm himself, which leads to her not getting off, often for years. Looks pretty selfish to me. As a result I strongly approve of more porn for women that includes extra stimulation to let all those women know they aren't alone and that a good man isn't threatened by her sliding her hand down there. Other positive non-porn elements include her healing from trauma, there being no sexual assault in the book or background anywhere, and the heroine resolving to work hard at her training so that she never needs rescuing again.
* I clearly need a bottle of Uncle Traveling Matt. Omnomnom.
* Beach Cake: http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2012/6/24/sunday-sweets-goes-to-the-beach.html