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* "Coffee With Refugees:" https://medium.com/the-nib/9fdf2d291339

* "Melissa Harris-Perry says Happy Birthday to Michelle Obama:"

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* Melissa Harris-Perry, noted trans ally, interviews Ce Ce McDonald and Laverne Cox. It's several segments, so I'm linking you to the intro. http://video.msnbc.msn.com/mhp/46419672#54118332

* Why do I call Melissa Harris-Perry an ally? Because through her example, media coverage of trans* folk has improved dramatically, just in the short time she's been on. Some of it is the little stuff, like using correct pronouns for Chelsea Manning a full year before anyone else in the media except the Advocate noticed she was trans and Ms. Harris-Perry's precision of language around trans issues. She never forgets to remind guests that not all people are heterosexual when they use heteronormative language. She never forget to remind guests that not all women have vaginas and not all men have penises. At a time when most media outlets were in the habit of lazily calling in Dan Savage to pronounce on all things QUILTBAG, she was doing LGBT panels with actual leaders of our community having real discussions about policies and issues that affect us in which the T wasn't silent and excluded. Hers was the first news show I ever saw where there were not only multiple trans women, but a transman and a non-binary person on to discuss trans issues from a trans perspective instead of having a cis person speak for us whether we wanted him to or not (NOT!!!). When people poind out that she'd failed to invite trans POC to the discussion, she had a panel with trans people of colour speaking for themselves. This might seem like a small thing to people not in the community, but it really isn't. It means we are included in all sorts of discussions we normally get left out of that still affect us. It means that our actual leaders are speaking for us and that for once trans people are getting to speak for themselves instead of being silenced by the LG cis-folk who often know fuck all about us and get taken as authorities by the cis-hets who don't know any better. It means a diversity of voices having important debates where the rest of the world can see us. It means people seeing us talking policy lie everyone else instead of being treated like zoo animals to gawp at the way we often are in mainstream media.

And you know what? Her approach is spreading. Chris Hayes has stopped routinely mis-gendering us. When the Sochi Olympics protests started up, I saw the news shows call in a variety of folks to talk about why the anti-LGBT violence in Russia is not okay, instead of just calling Dan savage and having his be the only voice. (I'm fine with them calling him in to talk about the vodka boycott, but it was nice to see people like Martina Navratilova, Greg Louganis, Brian Boitano, and Harvey Fierstein, all of whom had important perspectives: Ms. Navratilova having been a lesbian athlete from Cold War era Czechoslovakia, Mr. Louganis and Boitano as gay Olympians, Mr. Fierstein as a gay man of Jewish ancestry with strong opinions about this sort of oppression.) Because there were multiple voices and perspectives, there could be multiple opinions and therefore debate about what best to do about Sochi. I don't think we could have had that three years ago when news outlets assumed Dan Savage was the voice of all of us when he so very clearly isn't.

This looks like progress to me, and while I can't prove the things in paragraph two are her influence, I can say that she's consistently doing the ally thing right. She gives us platform to speak and she listens and learns. She never forgets we are out here and has our backs when we aren't in the room. I don't bestow the title "Ally" lightly, but she isn't one, I don't now who is.

Thank you Melissa Harris-Perry, for making your corner of the media sphere a better place and for showing the others how it's done.

* Greenwick found a bunch of interesting news:
"Transgender woman wins €5,000 after AIB's refusal to change name:" http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/transgender-woman-wins-5000-after-aibs-refusal-to-change-name-29927411.html
"Court rules state should pay for sex change of transgender prisoner:" http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/17/court-rules-stateshouldpayforsexchangeoftransgenderprisoner.html
"Transgender medical procedures often complicated and expensive, says surgeon at Hollywood meeting:" http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2014/01/transgender-medical-procedures-often-complicated-and-expensive-says-surgeon-at-hollywood-meeting.html

* Rob James-Collier (aka. Thomas on Downton Abbey) is raising money for Chilterns MS Centre at evilbutler.com: http://www.evilbutler.com/

* Before game, Greenwick and I took a load to storage, picked up a load from the old place, and he worked on painting the Bathroom while I put enough stuff away to make room for gamers. I'm calling it progress. We need the old apartment clean enough to show by February 1st.

Today I was supposed to sleep in, make some hone calls, and pick up some things at the apartment. Hector gave me the full brat instead. We re talking not just yelling into the ear holes, but clawing my legs and face, poking me hard in the eye and most notably tossing a shot glass onto the kitchen floor to shatter. This last I didn't realize until I was standing on broken glass on my way to clean the game night dishes. Luckily, my wounds are minor. (I heard the crash, but went back to sleep). Why all the histrionics? He's decided he doesn't eat kibble anymore, only goosh and I don't dispense goosh in my sleep for some reason. Mache had one of her good eating days yesterday, so is energetic today, despite today being a bad one for her throat. I registered on a site that contacts movers for bids last Friday, since the cheap guys aren't returning calls. Alas, the place that contacted me hadn't read my job properly. They are all the way in Kent and the gas cost to come move us is worth more than the move itself. This being MLK Day, I don't expect much in the way of bids until tomorrow at minimum. *fingers crossed for someone responding* After I left the phone messages in various places, I went out to find a brand of high protein, natural ingredient goosh with more gravy in it in the hopes of Mache getting more down. I bought all the flavors of the recommended brand that lacked ingredients the senior beasties don't like. We'll see if that helps her and which flavours she likes best. I then went to the old apartment to pick up a few key items I rather suddenly need. The old apartment already smells abandoned, the air stale for lack of movement. I forgot one of the things. Of course, but I'll manage. Today's a rest day with light organizing and unpacking. Tomorrow is bureaucracy and the Doctor. I'm also hoping to make it to Good Will. Let's hope Hector will let me sleep. Hector's sleeping in a clean laundry basket on the table I'm using as a desk right now, the bastard. Mache has settled in the blue camp chair and is purring as I pt her with my other hand as I type this. LM is enjoying having my whole bed to herself. (Winning!)

* I wonder what the Sleepy Hollow folks and the Winchester boys would make of each other.