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Apr. 28th, 2012 01:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwydion* House Republicans caved on their plan to double student loan interest rates, but chose to pay for it by cutting things like AIDS prevention, cancer screening, and the like, rather than remove a tax loop hole helping the most profitable business in the history of the world, the oil companies. After all, who cares if mere humans suffer and die unnecessarily if it's for the corporate good, right?
For the record, I think it's bullshit that Democrats are pretending this is part of the Republican targeted assault on women's rights and health care. Yes, they are cutting breast cancer screening, but they are also slashing prostate screening. yes, it's bad for women, but not disproportionately so. Instead, it's yet another example of them being in favour of killing humans to make the very rich even richer at the expense of people who work for a living. By pretending otherwise, it besmirches real issues like the Republican insistence on government mandated medical rape, taking away birth control, and breast/cervical cancer screening. It's pretty fucking cynical and out right horrifying on both accounts, but the way to stop them is not to lie, but to tell the truth and tell it loud.
* I just watched a Republican pundit argue 1. The best way to make college affordable to the middle class again is to completely stop government subsidies on colleges. Run that through again, the problem is that eroding the subsidies on colleges and universities has made tuition so high only the rich can afford it any more. The Republican argument is dramatic increase in tuition caused by starving the colleges of funds will make tuition lower like it was when there were big subsidies. No really. So, lying or stupid? 2. Romney's story of being the son of a rich politician and becoming a rich politician is identical to President Obama's story of being the biracial son of a single mother and working hard to become financially comfortable and to become the first POC President of the United States. Somehow, the first was the same level of miraculous was the second.
Can they hear themselves talk, I wonder?
* On Dr. Spitzer 's apology: http://www.sparkindarkness.com/2012/04/dr-spitzer-has-apologised.html
* Rachel Maddow's take: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#47198688
* They woke me up at 9AM to question me extensively about my medicare. It did not help that she had a thick accent and talked fast. I'd have been fine if I wasn't half asleep and in pain so I had to keep switching ears. It also did not help that some of the questions were ambiguous enough that my answers where really different depending on interpretation. If the answer could be either 3 or 15, it's impossible to choose which is more accurate. Then of course, Hetor needed me. I was going to do an errand, then garden. Instead, I went with a slow start and then just the errand.
* Glee is having a peculiar effect. I dreamed Kurt Hummel in a distopian future high School, in which they had biological technology, so you could do things like have a cat with a snake head, but everything had pretty much gone to shit and civilization was barley holding on and totally dysfunctional. Me: "Ah! this is why I keep finding snakes in my bed." The music was excellent though.
* Glee season 2:
1. For the record, despite lyric mutilation, I did think the music in the rocky Glee Picture Show was excellent. Extra props to Mercedes, who unlike most of them didn't try to sound like the movie soundtrack, but made Frankenfurter's voice her own. That's not easy, and it was gorgeous. The plot was unpleasant and cring worthy, but I don't hold the performers in any less esteem for that.
2. Watching last night, it occurred to me that part of my extreme hatred of Shu is that guys like him are way more damaging than adult bullies like Sue. With a Sue, you know where you stand, and you can choose to join or array yourself in opposition. The rules of survival are fairly simple, and you can play it out from there. Shuster reminds me of my 6/7th homerom/english/Social Studies teacher. You have that same surface appearance of caring nice guy with enough charisma to convince people he's sincere, and underneath hypocrisy, selfishness, and a willing to do real damage if it serves his agenda. It was incredibly disillusioning to me as a 6th grader to have this white knight nice guy teacher going on and on about social justice and fighting racism, which is a sort of promise that he's trying to make his classroom a safe space, only to allw horrible things to happen, because it turned out he didn't give a shit about keeping someone like me safe as long as he could be popular. I think Shu's like that with a slightly different agenda. He' all about reliving his high school glory and living through the kids, to the point he is both controlling and has alarmingly bad boundaries. He plays surface sensative, caring, nice guy, while completely failing to protect Kurt in his room or outside it. Not okay. I had a lot more respect for the shop teacher who apologized because he could only keep me safe in within the walls of the class room, but couldn't save me from all the rest. That's honest. Sue is honest about what she is. Shuester is a lie.
3. Looking at the episodes I watched since I logged off last night in particular, I think Sue is often right about the big things, even though she often goes too far and goes about it the wrong way. For example, she's right that there needs to be healthier cafeteria food and less greasy stuff. The problem is, she goes too far. A more moderate approach would be better and more likely to last. When she expelled Karofsky (briefly), it dawned on me that she's a better Principal than Figgins. (I hate, hate, hate, Figgins, who is clearly doing it wrong. Nowhere I ever taught would allow that slushy thing. It would be shut down as forth degree assault the first time it happened. There would be suspension, cops, restraining orders, etc. With the death threat, If another high school was close, they'd have transferred him. In some districts they will pay private school tuition for either the bully or the victim to provide a safe learning environment. You can't legally expel without providing an alternative. If not, you'd have rearranged schedules, and an aid if necessary to keep him from interacting, and if that didn't work, the BD room or home bound teaching depending on the district. Allowing routine forth degree assault is pretty much begging for group bulling and more serious assaults such as group beating. That way lies things like lawsuits, murder, and mass murder. I honestly don't understand why he hasn't been replaced by someone competent long ago, but that's Glee, where thing are exaggeratedly worse.) Anyway, it was a little scary how much better sue was a it, given how assaultive and inappropriate she generally is. (Seriously, I'd have been fired and my license yanked if I went around hitting/pushing students). Anyway, it gave me shivers when Sue did the right thing with Karofsky.
4. Cris Colfer singing "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" is one of the most heartrendingly beautiful things I've heard in years. His voice just blows me way when they let him really use it and the acting? Stunning. I'm with rm who calls him a once in a generation talent.
5. That thing were Blaine says something like, "There's a reason we all wear uniforms?" As someone who went to a prep school, that is so spot on. Dalton may be idealized in other ways, like an enforced no bullying policy, the opposite of the official scapegoating and institutionalized bullying at my real life school, but it still has that lop off the tall head everyone has to be the same thing going on, and I can read the class currents there the way a bird reads air currents. You grow up with that web of unstated rules and politely disguised barriers you learn to see them in the subtle stuff.
6. BTW, when I saw that half Cheesus episode in December, I totally misread it that Bieste had been outed as trans, what with me having missed all the set up.
7. It continues to annoy me that Mike an Tina are still barely characterized, but I love that they are starting to use/showcase Mike' delightfully mid last century style dance skills. I grew up on Astaire, Kelly, et a., and it's charming me.
8. The Substitute is just as right and wrong as Shue. It's a careful threading of the needle. You need enough control to accomplish stuff and maintain good boundaries, but beyond that you need to give them room for choice and self expression. As a former professional, they both make me cringe.
9. The Wedding episode was beautifully done with everything working together well on both an macro and a micro level (arc, character development, single episode plot, visual motif, etc. Nice. Watching it, I could also see what rm meant about Finn not really dealing with his homophobia, but merely shifting Kurt into the family and there for his tribe. It's subtle, but clever.
10. That thing Emma says about Shue not using everyone's talents? I've been saying that since the first episode.
11. So I left off partway through "Special education." I can see why it's one of rm's favorites.
12. For the records, I agree with rm that Kurt is being threatened with sexual assault, and I am a also seeing the stuff about gender involving the punishment of women for being women and the punishment of men for not reading masculine as much, but have nothing clever to say that hasn't been said already. I also think it's interesting that Finn is official arbiter or the construction of masculinity for the guys whether for Sam or Kurt. I know that he's in that role for Rory later, an am fascinated that it's as long game embedded as Kurt's relationship to death and ritual around death.
* I'm only fifth in line for the next installment, so that should be faster.
* BPAL I see there's been another round of Discontinuations due to component issues. I'm lucky enough not to be hit, but if any one lost a scent they love, I'm sorry.
* Re Supernatural: At least there's now in in story explanation for why the boys are dumber since Kripke left.
* The Clutch:
For the record, I think it's bullshit that Democrats are pretending this is part of the Republican targeted assault on women's rights and health care. Yes, they are cutting breast cancer screening, but they are also slashing prostate screening. yes, it's bad for women, but not disproportionately so. Instead, it's yet another example of them being in favour of killing humans to make the very rich even richer at the expense of people who work for a living. By pretending otherwise, it besmirches real issues like the Republican insistence on government mandated medical rape, taking away birth control, and breast/cervical cancer screening. It's pretty fucking cynical and out right horrifying on both accounts, but the way to stop them is not to lie, but to tell the truth and tell it loud.
* I just watched a Republican pundit argue 1. The best way to make college affordable to the middle class again is to completely stop government subsidies on colleges. Run that through again, the problem is that eroding the subsidies on colleges and universities has made tuition so high only the rich can afford it any more. The Republican argument is dramatic increase in tuition caused by starving the colleges of funds will make tuition lower like it was when there were big subsidies. No really. So, lying or stupid? 2. Romney's story of being the son of a rich politician and becoming a rich politician is identical to President Obama's story of being the biracial son of a single mother and working hard to become financially comfortable and to become the first POC President of the United States. Somehow, the first was the same level of miraculous was the second.
Can they hear themselves talk, I wonder?
* On Dr. Spitzer 's apology: http://www.sparkindarkness.com/2012/04/dr-spitzer-has-apologised.html
* Rachel Maddow's take: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#47198688
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
* They woke me up at 9AM to question me extensively about my medicare. It did not help that she had a thick accent and talked fast. I'd have been fine if I wasn't half asleep and in pain so I had to keep switching ears. It also did not help that some of the questions were ambiguous enough that my answers where really different depending on interpretation. If the answer could be either 3 or 15, it's impossible to choose which is more accurate. Then of course, Hetor needed me. I was going to do an errand, then garden. Instead, I went with a slow start and then just the errand.
* Glee is having a peculiar effect. I dreamed Kurt Hummel in a distopian future high School, in which they had biological technology, so you could do things like have a cat with a snake head, but everything had pretty much gone to shit and civilization was barley holding on and totally dysfunctional. Me: "Ah! this is why I keep finding snakes in my bed." The music was excellent though.
* Glee season 2:
1. For the record, despite lyric mutilation, I did think the music in the rocky Glee Picture Show was excellent. Extra props to Mercedes, who unlike most of them didn't try to sound like the movie soundtrack, but made Frankenfurter's voice her own. That's not easy, and it was gorgeous. The plot was unpleasant and cring worthy, but I don't hold the performers in any less esteem for that.
2. Watching last night, it occurred to me that part of my extreme hatred of Shu is that guys like him are way more damaging than adult bullies like Sue. With a Sue, you know where you stand, and you can choose to join or array yourself in opposition. The rules of survival are fairly simple, and you can play it out from there. Shuster reminds me of my 6/7th homerom/english/Social Studies teacher. You have that same surface appearance of caring nice guy with enough charisma to convince people he's sincere, and underneath hypocrisy, selfishness, and a willing to do real damage if it serves his agenda. It was incredibly disillusioning to me as a 6th grader to have this white knight nice guy teacher going on and on about social justice and fighting racism, which is a sort of promise that he's trying to make his classroom a safe space, only to allw horrible things to happen, because it turned out he didn't give a shit about keeping someone like me safe as long as he could be popular. I think Shu's like that with a slightly different agenda. He' all about reliving his high school glory and living through the kids, to the point he is both controlling and has alarmingly bad boundaries. He plays surface sensative, caring, nice guy, while completely failing to protect Kurt in his room or outside it. Not okay. I had a lot more respect for the shop teacher who apologized because he could only keep me safe in within the walls of the class room, but couldn't save me from all the rest. That's honest. Sue is honest about what she is. Shuester is a lie.
3. Looking at the episodes I watched since I logged off last night in particular, I think Sue is often right about the big things, even though she often goes too far and goes about it the wrong way. For example, she's right that there needs to be healthier cafeteria food and less greasy stuff. The problem is, she goes too far. A more moderate approach would be better and more likely to last. When she expelled Karofsky (briefly), it dawned on me that she's a better Principal than Figgins. (I hate, hate, hate, Figgins, who is clearly doing it wrong. Nowhere I ever taught would allow that slushy thing. It would be shut down as forth degree assault the first time it happened. There would be suspension, cops, restraining orders, etc. With the death threat, If another high school was close, they'd have transferred him. In some districts they will pay private school tuition for either the bully or the victim to provide a safe learning environment. You can't legally expel without providing an alternative. If not, you'd have rearranged schedules, and an aid if necessary to keep him from interacting, and if that didn't work, the BD room or home bound teaching depending on the district. Allowing routine forth degree assault is pretty much begging for group bulling and more serious assaults such as group beating. That way lies things like lawsuits, murder, and mass murder. I honestly don't understand why he hasn't been replaced by someone competent long ago, but that's Glee, where thing are exaggeratedly worse.) Anyway, it was a little scary how much better sue was a it, given how assaultive and inappropriate she generally is. (Seriously, I'd have been fired and my license yanked if I went around hitting/pushing students). Anyway, it gave me shivers when Sue did the right thing with Karofsky.
4. Cris Colfer singing "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" is one of the most heartrendingly beautiful things I've heard in years. His voice just blows me way when they let him really use it and the acting? Stunning. I'm with rm who calls him a once in a generation talent.
5. That thing were Blaine says something like, "There's a reason we all wear uniforms?" As someone who went to a prep school, that is so spot on. Dalton may be idealized in other ways, like an enforced no bullying policy, the opposite of the official scapegoating and institutionalized bullying at my real life school, but it still has that lop off the tall head everyone has to be the same thing going on, and I can read the class currents there the way a bird reads air currents. You grow up with that web of unstated rules and politely disguised barriers you learn to see them in the subtle stuff.
6. BTW, when I saw that half Cheesus episode in December, I totally misread it that Bieste had been outed as trans, what with me having missed all the set up.
7. It continues to annoy me that Mike an Tina are still barely characterized, but I love that they are starting to use/showcase Mike' delightfully mid last century style dance skills. I grew up on Astaire, Kelly, et a., and it's charming me.
8. The Substitute is just as right and wrong as Shue. It's a careful threading of the needle. You need enough control to accomplish stuff and maintain good boundaries, but beyond that you need to give them room for choice and self expression. As a former professional, they both make me cringe.
9. The Wedding episode was beautifully done with everything working together well on both an macro and a micro level (arc, character development, single episode plot, visual motif, etc. Nice. Watching it, I could also see what rm meant about Finn not really dealing with his homophobia, but merely shifting Kurt into the family and there for his tribe. It's subtle, but clever.
10. That thing Emma says about Shue not using everyone's talents? I've been saying that since the first episode.
11. So I left off partway through "Special education." I can see why it's one of rm's favorites.
12. For the records, I agree with rm that Kurt is being threatened with sexual assault, and I am a also seeing the stuff about gender involving the punishment of women for being women and the punishment of men for not reading masculine as much, but have nothing clever to say that hasn't been said already. I also think it's interesting that Finn is official arbiter or the construction of masculinity for the guys whether for Sam or Kurt. I know that he's in that role for Rory later, an am fascinated that it's as long game embedded as Kurt's relationship to death and ritual around death.
* I'm only fifth in line for the next installment, so that should be faster.
* BPAL I see there's been another round of Discontinuations due to component issues. I'm lucky enough not to be hit, but if any one lost a scent they love, I'm sorry.
* Re Supernatural: At least there's now in in story explanation for why the boys are dumber since Kripke left.
* The Clutch: