(no subject)

* Remember all those Russian tanks and artillery headed for Ukraine last week? Is anyone surprised that the Ukrainian forces are now reporting massive attacks by Russian tanks and artillery? Meanwhile, the Russian funded and armed rebels are committing yet more human rights abuses.

* "A Study in Plutocracy: Rich Americans Wield Political Influence, the Rest of Us Don't:" http://billmoyers.com/2014/08/14/a-study-in-plutocracy-rich-americans-wield-political-influence-the-rest-of-us-dont/

* "Does the Second Amendment Only Apply to White People?:" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-boykin/does-the-second-amendment_b_5676447.html

* "Ferguson and the cult of compliance:" http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/8/ferguson-police-shootracismcompliance.html

Think about that for a minute. Police murdered a man with Down Syndrome because he didn't pay for a theater ticket. Do we really think that police should be applying the death penalty to such petty crimes? Can we start arresting them now when they murder people, because that seems like a really good idea instead of the current system where they roam loose killing whoever they like for no good reason.]?

Oooo! Here's a revolutionary idea! Why don't we make murder illegal regardless of the skin colour of the victim and what sort of clothes or colour skin the murderer is wearing!

* "There Is No 5-Second Rule for the First Amendment, Ferguson:" http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/08/ferguson-first-amendment-5-second-rule-110208.html#.U_sucGO1Wi-

* "Human exodus may have reached China 100,000 years ago :" http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329813.000-human-exodus-may-have-reached-china-100000-years-ago.html#.U_sjyGO1Wi_

* "Brahmi scripts found on Neolithic axes in Kerala:" http://zeenews.india.com/news/kerala/brahmi-scripts-found-on-neolithic-axes-in-kerala_950686.html

* Richard Attenborough has died. Most people remember him in Jurassic Park or for directing Gandhi. Me, I think of him in the Great escape, which was so important to me as a child when I was forming the philosophy of resistance that helped me survive my childhood. Rest in Peace and thank you.

* "Hero Cat Saves California Boy From Dog Attack:" http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hero-cat-saves-california-boy-dog-attack-n105466

* "Two Trans Women Shot in Detroit, Local Media Misgenders and Misrepresents Them:" http://www.autostraddle.com/two-trans-women-shot-in-detroit-local-media-misgenders-and-misrepresents-them-251956/

* My Theory About Lovecraft:
Lovecraft was a terrible writer and a disgusting racist and sexist human being. I still remember reading his work for the first time at the urging of a lover when I was in my teens and being thoroughly disgusted by the -isms and unimpressed with the stories themselves.

At the same time, I think so many people have used Mythos themes, written Mythos based stories, etc. is because he did catch the 20th-21st century Zeitgeist in that he was writing about vast amoral all encompassing horrors that care nothing for human lives or morality that destroys carelessly in pursuit of concerns that have nothing to do with the people destroyed with no repercussions. Sounds an awful lot like rule by Corporations, such as we have in the USA, doesn’t it? That these horrors corrupt and transform people into horrors sure looks like what money does to people. Odds are the Mythos appealed to people dealing with the way early-mid 20th century industrialization destroys, pollutes, and grinds people and landscapes down. Odds are it stays relevant because of the way corporations have completely captured government and are destroying people and landscapes even faster and with less recourse than they did in the 19th century. Corporations are the RL vast apocalyptic forces behind climate change and deregulation that are really killing us. A personified vast uncaring apocalyptic horror like Cthulhu and Asathoth are easier to grasp than the more abstract corporations that really are killing people and destroying vast tracts of land, and so can be tools for processing things like corporate people deciding that perpetual drought and thus food crises and massive human misery are worth it for a slightly larger profit margin.

I suspect that the competing elements of him being a wooden and racist writer and people needing so may to process the vast faceless, conscienceless horrors of modern life are why people write their own stories or include Lovecraftian elements in their writing, art, media, etc.. They want the big concepts without the associated baggage.

That’s my theory, anyway.

Does it in anyway excuse the open extreme racism of the source material? Hell no. I do think there is room for debate over whether or not Mythos elements are poison fruit of a poison tree, but that debate can't be had honestly with the foulness of the original material under a lampshade.

* Ebay Auction:

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* Fund raiser to help us keep our place: http://djinni.livejournal.com/507872.html

* Djinni and Greenwickpress are getting married. Here is their gift registry in case folks want to get them something: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/19HV6IL24HX58/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_v

(no subject)

* The Russians are claiming that their paratroops penetrating the Ukrainian border by 20 KMs is totally accidental along with the way their artillary and tanks keep shelling Ukranian troops across the border, and that second unsanctioned "Aid convoy" is not at all suspicious and there is nothing wrong with them refusing customs inspections. *side eye*

* 120 health workers have died in the West African ebola outbreak. Amoung the dead are a Liberian doctor who got the same experimental treatment as the American doctors who survived. They have used all of that drug that existed in the World. A priest given the same medication also died. I'm not seeing out comes yet for the two other Liberian patients. Both Japan and Canada may have promising treatments in the near future. The Japanese drug should reach West Africa soon. The Canadians just had promising monkey trials, but are not ready to send test doses. There is no guarantee that either drug works, any more than there is for the other one that's been tested already. (Sample size too small, too many variables, better pathology needed on the dead patients).

I'm going to repeat that the outbreak in the Congo is not related and not expected to spread to the cities, because I'm starting to see some panicky coverage by people who don't know much about ebola. It is terrible that people have died and more likely will, but it's not sign of wider spread of the West African outbreak, being genetically distinct and in an area where ebola is endemic.

* "The stark demographic realities of Ferguson:"

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* The Historical Context of Civil Rights vs. Respectability Politics. "How the media has portrayed Michael Brown:"

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* "The cold, hard truth about the ice bucket challenge:" http://qz.com/249649/the-cold-hard-truth-about-the-ice-bucket-challenge/

* "The Pentagon can easily drop its ban on transgender troops, study finds:" http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/08/25/the-pentagon-can-easily-drop-its-ban-on-transgender-troops-study-finds/

* "President's Administrative Relief Package Must Be LGBTQ Affirmative:" http://transgenderequality.wordpress.com/2014/08/22/ncte-maldef-presidents-administrative-relief-package-must-be-lgbtq-affirmative/

* "Cartoon: Approved responses to the Civil Unrest in Ferguson:" http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/25/1323827/-Cartoon-Approved-responses#

* In case you don't think Lovecraft was inexcusably racist, this has plenty of proof. TW: hate Speech. "The 'N' word through the ages: The madness of HP Lovecraft:" http://mediadiversified.org/2014/05/24/the-n-word-through-the-ages-the-madness-of-hp-lovecraft/

* Icon day Fundraisers: http://djinni.livejournal.com/508745.html

* Ebay Auction:

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* Fund raiser to help us keep our place: http://djinni.livejournal.com/507872.html

* Djinni and Greenwickpress are getting married. Here is their gift registry in case folks want to get them something: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/19HV6IL24HX58/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_v