(no subject)

* If you haven't seen Anderson Cooper's Monday night coverage of the genocide in Syria, you might want to go look at it. What can I possibly say to convey to you things like the quiet bravery of untrained heroes removing mines from the refugee trails with kabob skewers and bare hands. (I was friends for a while with a dude who was a minesweeper during and just after the first Gulf War. They offered him an obscene amount of money to go back as a private contractor. He wouldn't go. It was constantly nerve wrecking. He had excellent training and modern tools, but he just never wanted to live like that again. I keep thinking how much more stressful it would be to walk along eyeballing it and then removing them by hand, then getting up and doing it again, day after day. No fucking words for that kind of generosity and heroism.)

* It's looking like attempts to form a coalition government in Greece are failing, meaning new elections are likely.

* The latest round of Republican anti-women legislation: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#47422207

( Embed: )

* I think that the Democrats should wait until the week before the election and then release ads in Florida featuring excerpts of Mr. Romney's Liberty University Commencement Christian Supremacy speech.

* Back when they were calling Clinton "the first black President" I hated it. It's creepy, inaccurate, and appropriative. I feel the same about calling President Obama "the first gay president. Odds are we have already had one, though it's unlikely ever to be proved after all this time. No not Lincoln; he was pretty clearly bi. The phrase "first openly gay president" should be reserved for the first actual openly gay president. "The first woman president" should be saved for the first woman president. You'd think they'd have learned from how creepy it was to go around calling a white guy 'the first black president." Apparently not. How American of Newsweek to refuse to learn from previous mistakes.

* "Lesbian Woman Arrested After Seeking Marriage License In North Carolina:" http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/05/11/482661/lesbian-woman-arrested-after-seeking-marriage-license-in-north-carolina/

* Wow, the guy that got bitten by a rattle snake in a eastern Washington Walmart made BBCA's late night news. For those of you who don't live here, Clarkston is on the Idaho border, a completely different environment from where I live. (I assumed Eastern Washington when I heard the headline in the early evening. We get garter snakes around here, but nothing poisonous. Rattlesnakes are way more an eastern Washington thing). Washington's a big state with a lot of different terrains and habitats. What I'm trying to say here, is the stores of our state are not infested with venomous reptiles. It's news here because it's rare. Given how seldom my State makes National news, I often wonder how my friends in distant places perceive us, particularly given some of the bizarre ideas my family had about Oregon and Washington when I first moved out here. (My favorite is from one of the more ignorant members of my father's side of the family who wanted to know what sort of currency we use...)

* "George Washington University Professor’s Research on Ancient Ballgame Reveals More about Early Mesoamerican Society:" http://www.gwu.edu/explore/mediaroom/newsreleases/georgewashingtonuniversityprofessorsresearchonancientballgamerevealsmoreaboutearlymesoamericansociety

* "Otago researchers delve into enigmatic burial rituals:" http://phys.org/news/2012-05-otago-delve-enigmatic-burial-rituals.html

* "Effigy of 'Lost Prince' Henry Stuart to go on show at National Portrait Gallery:" http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/may/08/effigy-lost-prince-henry-stuart

* Cromwell's Cosmetics: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9248773/Oliver-Cromwell-the-metrosexual-how-the-Lord-Protector-became-the-skin-protector.html

* More on that family the Inquisition murdered: http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishFeatures/Article.aspx?id=269481

* "Happy Fucking Mother’s Day and all that, but I need to tell you something:" http://canuckjacq.tumblr.com/post/22969679687/happy-fucking-mothers-day-and-all-that-but-i-need-to

I am constantly reminded of how priveleged I am for having had a supportive family.

* I was supposed to do five things today, including important bureaucracy, but insomnia and Hector struck and I was too tired to do the bureaucracy before 3PM, when they close. I did the three things still open in time to return the car for squirrel when he needed it. BTW, it was more a matter of Hector taking my restless sleep for me being awake and ready to hand feed him than him being a jerk.

* I still need to watch the Glee:2 episodes I missed, and rewatch the Prom episode and likely a couple of others, but it will need to wait for the DvD to come from the library, so I won't have anything to say for a bit. I did want to mention that I think it's interesting that the most un to listen to duet Rachel had all second season was the one with Jesse St. James.

* Bones: Not only do I suspect they jumped the shark with the babies, but I really hated the season arc, what with it being kind of triggery for me. I think I may be done. I don't think I can watch part 2 of the finale, given how hard it was to sit through this half. Yes, I know normal people wouldn't find this triggering. That doesn't make it any easier for me to watch. Why did I watch it? I never know how I will react to things like this and I didn't know how bad it would be until it was nearly halfway through, so foolishly tried and failed to wait it out.

(Some things that look very similar by description are fine and others aren't. I generally can't tell without seeing. Ex: Shutter Island was fine, but Changeling wasn't. Before I tried to watch them, I'd have guessed the exact opposite. I cleverly didn't see them in the theater, which is my policy for anything I'm not sure of. a library DvD or tv broadcast can be turned off. Movies cost money and walking out can be inconvenient if I'm with someone.)

(no subject)

* If you haven't seen Anderson Cooper's Monday night coverage of the genocide in Syria, you might want to go look at it. What can I possibly say to convey to you things like the quiet bravery of untrained heroes removing mines from the refugee trails with kabob skewers and bare hands. (I was friends for a while with a dude who was a minesweeper during and just after the first Gulf War. They offered him an obscene amount of money to go back as a private contractor. He wouldn't go. It was constantly nerve wrecking. He had excellent training and modern tools, but he just never wanted to live like that again. I keep thinking how much more stressful it would be to walk along eyeballing it and then removing them by hand, then getting up and doing it again, day after day. No fucking words for that kind of generosity and heroism.) Anyway, I think there is a duty to be a witness and to keep talking about the atrocities being perpetrated against civilians over there if one hasn't the power to help in any other way.

* It's looking like attempts to form a coalition government in Greece are failing, meaning new elections are likely.

* The latest round of Republican anti-women legislation: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#47422207

( Embed: )

* I think that the Democrats should wait until the week before the election and then release ads in Florida featuring excerpts of Mr. Romney's Liberty University Commencement Christian Supremacy speech.

* Back when they were calling Clinton "the first black President" I hated it. It's creepy, inaccurate, and appropriative. I feel the same about calling President Obama "the first gay president. Odds are we have already had one, though it's unlikely ever to be proved after all this time. No not Lincoln; he was pretty clearly bi. The phrase "first openly gay president" should be reserved for the first actual openly gay president. "The first woman president" should be saved for the first woman president. You'd think they'd have learned from how creepy it was to go around calling a white guy 'the first black president." Apparently not. How American of Newsweek to refuse to learn from previous mistakes.

* "Lesbian Woman Arrested After Seeking Marriage License In North Carolina:" http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/05/11/482661/lesbian-woman-arrested-after-seeking-marriage-license-in-north-carolina/

* Wow, the guy that got bitten by a rattle snake in a eastern Washington Walmart made BBCA's late night news. For those of you who don't live here, Clarkston is on the Idaho border, a completely different environment from where I live. (I assumed Eastern Washington when I heard the headline in the early evening. We get garter snakes around here, but nothing poisonous. Rattlesnakes are way more an eastern Washington thing). Washington's a big state with a lot of different terrains and habitats. What I'm trying to say here, is the stores of our state are not infested with venomous reptiles. It's news here because it's rare. Given how seldom my State makes National news, I often wonder how my friends in distant places perceive us, particularly given some of the bizarre ideas my family had about Oregon and Washington when I first moved out here. (My favorite is from one of the more ignorant members of my father's side of the family who wanted to know what sort of currency we use...)

* "George Washington University Professor’s Research on Ancient Ballgame Reveals More about Early Mesoamerican Society:" http://www.gwu.edu/explore/mediaroom/newsreleases/georgewashingtonuniversityprofessorsresearchonancientballgamerevealsmoreaboutearlymesoamericansociety

* "Otago researchers delve into enigmatic burial rituals:" http://phys.org/news/2012-05-otago-delve-enigmatic-burial-rituals.html

* "Effigy of 'Lost Prince' Henry Stuart to go on show at National Portrait Gallery:" http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/may/08/effigy-lost-prince-henry-stuart

* Cromwell's Cosmetics: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9248773/Oliver-Cromwell-the-metrosexual-how-the-Lord-Protector-became-the-skin-protector.html

* More on that family the Inquisition murdered: http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishFeatures/Article.aspx?id=269481

* "Happy Fucking Mother’s Day and all that, but I need to tell you something:" http://canuckjacq.tumblr.com/post/22969679687/happy-fucking-mothers-day-and-all-that-but-i-need-to

I am constantly reminded of how privileged I am for having had a supportive family.

* I was supposed to do five things today, including important bureaucracy, but insomnia and Hector struck and I was too tired to do the bureaucracy before 3PM, when they close. I did the three things still open in time to return the car for squirrel when he needed it. BTW, it was more a matter of Hector taking my restless sleep for me being awake and ready to hand feed him than him being a jerk.

* I still need to watch the Glee:2 episodes I missed, and rewatch the Prom episode and likely a couple of others, but it will need to wait for the DvD to come from the library, so I won't have anything to say for a bit. I did want to mention that I think it's interesting that the most un to listen to duet Rachel had all second season was the one with Jesse St. James.

* Bones: Not only do I suspect they jumped the shark with the babies, but I really hated the season arc, what with it being kind of triggery for me. I think I may be done. I don't think I can watch part 2 of the finale, given how hard it was to sit through this half. Yes, I know normal people wouldn't find this triggering. That doesn't make it any easier for me to watch. Why did I watch it? I never know how I will react to things like this and I didn't know how bad it would be until it was nearly halfway through, so foolishly tried and failed to wait it out.

(Some things that look very similar by description are fine and others aren't. I generally can't tell without seeing. Ex: Shutter Island was fine, but Changeling wasn't. Before I tried to watch them, I'd have guessed the exact opposite. I cleverly didn't see them in the theater, which is my policy for anything I'm not sure of. a library DvD or tv broadcast can be turned off. Movies cost money and walking out can be inconvenient if I'm with someone.)