(no subject)

* "River Seine peaks in flood-hit Paris:" http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42856634

* "Fighting rages in south Yemeni city:" http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42858270

* "U.N. employees in Gaza demonstrate against U.S. aid cut:" https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-usa-un/u-n-employees-in-gaza-demonstrate-against-u-s-aid-cut-idUSKBN1FI1G7

* "Russian jet flies within 5 feet of US Navy plane, Pentagon says:" https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/29/politics/russia-jet-us-navy-black-sea/index.html

* "Trump Tower Russian Lawyer Exposed in Swiss Corruption Case:" https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-tower-russian-lawyer-natalia-veselnitskaya-exposed-in-swiss-corruption-case

* O.o "Trump interview: 'I'm very popular in Britain. I get a lot of fan mail':" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/29/donald-trump-interview-piers-morgan-im-very-popular-in-britain-get-a-lot-of-fan-mail

* "Deadline looms for Trump and Russia sanctions:" https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/28/trump-russia-sanctions-deadline-373106

* "Trump letter to African leaders: Tillerson to make 1st visit:" https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/trump-letter-to-african-leaders-says-tillerson-to-visit-soon-181087/

* "Trump’s foreign policy mishaps escalate:" http://www.msnbc.com/am-joy/watch/trump-davos-speech-trump-booed-at-davos-1147977283766

* "Has Trump engendered the downfall of U.S. evangelicals?:" http://www.msnbc.com/am-joy/watch/trump-evangelicals-trump-evangelical-supporters-remain-1147968579989

* Music has always been political. "Hillary Clinton, Cher, Snoop and others read 'Fire and Fury' excerpts at 2018 Grammys:" https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/28/entertainment/hillary-clinton-grammys-2018/index.html

* "On Flight to Davos, Trump Erupted Over DOJ Role in Russia Probe:" https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-29/on-flight-to-davos-trump-erupted-over-doj-role-in-russia-probe

* "For Impeachment Referral, Mueller Would Need Rosenstein:" https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/for-impeachment-referral-mueller-would-need-rosenstein

* "FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stepping down:" https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/fbi-deputy-director-andrew-mccabe-stepping-down-n842176

* "Trump’s complaints against McCabe included Comey's ride home:" https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-s-gripes-against-mccabe-included-wife-s-politics-comey-n842161

* "New emails reveal Scott Pruitt was personally involved in erasing climate data from EPA website:" https://thinkprogress.org/scott-pruitt-epa-webiste-0b4f50ef76c4/

* "Melania Trump’s Military Flights Before Her Move to Washington Cost More Than $675,000:" https://www.wsj.com/articles/melania-trumps-military-flights-before-her-move-to-washington-cost-more-than-675-000-1517221801

* He's such an extreme coward he hasn't met with constituents for more than a year. "Frelinghuysen won’t seek reelection:" https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/29/frelinghuysen-wont-seek-reelection-374133

* "Reality sets in DACA deal might not get done:" https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/29/politics/daca-deal-reality/index.html

* "Chelsea Handler leaves show to get women elected:" http://www.msnbc.com/am-joy/watch/chelsea-handler-and-emily-s-list-work-to-elect-women-1147553859830

* TW: Rape. "Will GOP return Wynn’s money amid abuse allegations?:" http://www.msnbc.com/am-joy/watch/steve-wynn-accused-of-repeated-sexual-misconduct-1147515971871

* TW: Rape. Look, I absolutely support rape survivors of any gender. After all, a majority of our soldiers raped by other soldiers every year are cis men, and rape and molestation are no less harmful to people who aren't women. I want to make super clear this rant is not aimed at survivors regardless of gender. The last thing I want to be doing is trying to silence survivors of any gender cis or trans, binary or non-binary.

I've been watching the discourse in the last couple months around issues of rape, sexual assault, and sexual Harassment lately, and I just wanted to say that I am incredibly sick of cis men who've never been harassed or assaulted holding forth about how wrong people who have actually been harassed, assaulted, molested, raped, etc. should and should not be reacting to allegations of the same in the media. I am tired of cis men who've never experienced anything along these lines trying to police, tone police, and silence people (regardless of gender) who have experienced these things first hand.

Right now? Is time to shut up and listen if these issues have never effected you personally, because if it hasn't happened to you, you *gasp* aren't an expert. No really. Ignorance and privilege do not magically make you unbiased. Now is a good time to listen and thing and maybe expend a little empathy instead of trying to shut down a conversation that makes you uncomfortable. It should make you uncomfortable. You know who is way more than uncomfortable? A thirteen year old girl being chased by a pack of cat calling construction workers, for example. She is not merely uncomfortable, she is TERRIFIED, and even if she out runs them to safety the fact she wasn't physically harmed doesn't take the trauma away.

I heard a certain privileged cis male asshole make the case on TV this last week or so that we shouldn't take things like this seriously and just focus on the violent rape. I've heard a lot of cis male celebrities and pundits make variations on the theme of we shouldn't include certain things they want to carve out in the discussion. I say we can focus on *gasp* more than one thing at a time, and the last people who should be deciding what things we should discuss and protest are the people who've never once feared for their safety walking down a street, on a date, in a bathroom, at work, etc., who've never been attacked by a friend, a family member, a partner, a date, a stranger.

Maybe just shut up and listen for once and let people who actually know what they are talking about hold a debate.

* "Wonder Woman 2 will be the first production to adopt new anti-sexual harassment guidelines:" https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/22/16918368/wonder-woman-2-producers-guild-america-pga-anti-sexual-harassment-guidelines

* "RNC finance chair Steve Wynn resigns after sexual harassment allegations:" https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/27/steve-wynn-resign-rnc-finance-chair-sexual-misconduct-accusations-373768

* "Dem senator calls for probe into USA Gymnastics sexual abuse scandal:" http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/370583-dem-senator-calls-for-investigation-into-us-gymnastics-sexual-abuse

* "11,000-yr-old baby tomb found in SW China:" http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-01/19/c_136909114.htm

* "Iron age discovery at housing site sheds new light on history of town:" http://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/iron-age-discovery-at-housing-site-sheds-new-light-on-history-of-town-1-5361316

* "Ancient tripartite-city of Xiongnu a special religious and meeting site:" http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-01/16/c_136900293.htm

* "Ancient Cliff Tombs Discovered in Southwest China:" https://www.archaeology.org/news/6285-180118-china-cliff-tombs

* "18 tombs unearthed in North China:" http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201801/16/WS5a5d6468a3102c394518f7de.html

* "Possible Remains of ‘Lost’ Monastery Discovered in Scotland:" https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/possible-remains-lost-monastery-discovered-scotland-180967838/

* "Headless body is not C18th Scottish clan chief, say experts:" https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jan/19/headless-body-is-not-scottish-clan-chief-simon-fraser-experts

* "18th Century inn abandoned during Clearances is unearthed:" https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/18th-century-inn-abandoned-during-clearances-is-unearthed-1-4666340

* "The evidence for the Tasmanian genocide:" https://phys.org/news/2018-01-evidence-tasmanian-genocide.html

* "Naomi Parker Fraley, the Real Rosie the Riveter, Dies at 96:" https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/obituaries/naomi-parker-fraley-the-real-rosie-the-riveter-dies-at-96.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&referer=

* "Paris zoo shut after 50 baboons escape:" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/26/paris-zoo-shut-baboons-escape

* "Cable News Chyrons Tell The Bizarre Story Of Trump's First Year In Office:" https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cable-news-chyrons-captions-trump-first-year_us_5a60fd2de4b0b3f7fa12fc33?ncid=edlinkushpmg00000313

* "Selma: Crash Course Film Criticism #3:"

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* "Chucky Lee Byrd - SNL:"

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* "Flight Attendants - SNL:"

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* "Next: For Men - SNL:"

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* "George W. Bush Returns Cold Open - SNL:"

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* So Sunday, the viruses and my chronic stuff ganged up on me all at once. I gave myself permission to skip forage, but as it turned out, my sleep quality was so low I went anyway, as not going would have involved me not being much more rested and then having to go Wednesday. It was not a good forage, alas. I was also literally the second day of free tax prep and my paperwork came end of last week. They'd moved it from the library to a mazelike church which I approached from the wrong side to get accessible parking so stairs, so many stairs. I did read more than a hundred pages of the new John Guy Elizabeth, detailing the later years of her reign, which tend to get short shrift, while I waited. So that's more bureaucracy gone, but it also meant I had to carry all the forage in myself, Squirrel having left for game hours previously.

When I got home there was a package full of exciting experimental candied orange rinds from a friend and a lovely card. Thank you. :)

* Poison Ivy Salad: http://gallusrostromegalus.tumblr.com/post/170292162973/please-i-have-to-know-how-the-hell-did-you

* It just occurred to me that Cassian from Rogue One is the kind of man Han Solo is pretending to be in A New Hope.

* "Okay, but imagine Sam Vimes in the Avengers Universe.:" http://butlerbookbinding.tumblr.com/post/170265898964/okay-but-imagine-sam-vimes-in-the-avengers

* People reacting to being asked who the President is to check brain function: http://satyrday.tumblr.com/post/170251228891/epaulettes-wildlyannoyingdoofus-these-kinds

* "Sunday Sweets: The 10 Cutest Cakes Of All Time*:" http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2018/1/28/sunday-sweets-the-10-cutest-cakes-of-all-time.html

* Star Trek, The Animated Series:

- 1.8 The Magicks of Megas-Tu. They get caught in an "Energy tornado" in a vaccuum which somehow works like a terrestrial tornado and basically takes them to meet what looks an awful lot like Lucifer, "Lucian." *side eye* McCoy just called Spock "not very natural." WTF?!? Is it just me, or is cartoon McCoy a suppurating asshole? He seems to be constantly insulting Spock for no reason without even the excuse of a disagreement. I think Spock has a good basis for a hostile work environment claim. There follows an infomercial for "Magic." Lucian's hiding them from something, apparently. At which point Spock starts doing magic, which attracts the thing Lucian was hiding them from, who turns out to be Asmodeus.... Frankly, the plot isn't making all that much sense outside of Spock working out that the local physical laws are based on belief and thus being able to work magic himself. Anyway, they get sent to the stocks in Salem, where they discover these aliens were twined with Earth history. Sigh. Anyway, they are pissed about the persecutions. So Spock gets to be lawtyer for the defense at the trial of the human race. They decide they are likely safe from humans based on the records of how they got here, but the now revealed Lucifer is to be condemned to eternal solitary and the humans take up for him, so Kirk has a magic fight with Asmodeus which the animation is not up to portraying with cheesey results. Kirk's willingness to die for Lucifer is a test, so they are all friends now. This episode was a mess. There were some nice little bits of dialog in there but it was a mix of rehashed plot and incoherence.

- 1.9 Once Upon a Planet. They return to that planet they found where whatever one imagines turns up in robot form, only they get attacked by Alice Through the Looking Glass characters even though no one imagined that, and they get trapped down there. It turns out the Planetary AI is rebelling and thinks Uhura and the others are slaves of the Sky Machine (the Enterprise). The machines are trying to use them as hostages, but more than one is redundant so they plan to "turn them off" IE: kill most of them. Uhura understandably objects. The Keeper is dead and buried under a monument, so he's no help. They order a phaser bore to try to get through the core alloy, but the ship is malfunctioning so no dice. The main party gets attacked by Pterodactyls and a giant cat and their phasors are dead. The main group incapacitates Spock to take advantage of the injured guest transportation system. Meanwhile, the Planet is taking over the ship, causing havoc. Kirk hitches a ride and they find Uhura and the AI, who is tired of being a slave and has aspirations of travel via the "Sky Machine." Scotty is not even a little amused by the computer being assembled by the Starship computer in the Computer bay. They explain that they aren't slaves and that if it stops attacking people, then visitors could come to it, thus saving the need to travel. The AI agrees. They have Shore leave after all. This one is so much better than the previous one.

- TW: Rape. 1.10 Mudd's Passion. Ugh. They catch Mudd selling a mind control rape drug to miners. Luckily is a scam and he's not actually raping people. Spock exposes him and he has a choice of being lynched by the locals or letting the federation arrest him. He chooses arrest. He's been traveling around scamming/poisoning people. He sexually harasses Nurse Chapel, then offers her a bribe of the rape drug for her to use on Spock. All this seems rather advanced for a children's cartoon. Weirdly, it doesn't work on gay people for some reason according to the sales pitch. Nurse Chapel takes the rape drug to "analyze," but he talks her into using it to rape Spock as a test. Riiight. Of course, when she breaks the ampule it makes her all suggestible so he sends her to go rape Spock while he uses her badge to escape. Spock doesn't let her rape him, as the drug takes longer to work than she expected, so she goes to complain and realizes Mudd's escaped. The effects of the rape drug on Spock lead to him being humiliated in front of the bridge crew. Mudd releases the rape drug into the Enterprise air system and takes Chapel hostage, escaping in a shuttle. They showed this to children!!! I WATCHED this as a toddler. Eeeeew!!! Seriously, Star Fleet needs waaaay better HR. The planet Mudd fled to is full of monsters, chaos ensues. The rape drug effects Kirk and Spock, making Kirk jealous and Spock verbally affectionate, but they start to resist. Meanwhile, back on the Enterprise, everyone is under the sway of the rape drug. As a kid, I liked ToS McCoy, though not as much as Spock (I was a Spock/McCoy shipper as a child. Don't judge, we all have our odd parings when we were small). I have been liking him a lot less on the rewatch because he's mean and racist. I've come to quietly loathe him thanks to the Animated Series. They consider using the rape drug on the monsters to escape. Everyone gets a rape drug hangover which makes them all hate each other. Look, everyone on the enterprise can't be held responsible for what they did while drugged, but Chapel chose to try to rape Spock while sober and the fact that she failed to consummate for reasons beyond her control shouldn't be considered to mitigate the fact that she made a premeditated rape attempt on a coworker. Why don't they arrest her? Where is the Court Martial panel? Mudd gets sent off for "rehabilitation" again.

I'm really disgusted.

*****
* Full list of Resistance and charity links has been migrated to my profile as it was getting out of hand.

* "Help us stop the humanitarian crisis on Manus:" https://www.asrc.org.au/donate-now/

* "RISE (Refugees, Survivors and Ex-Detainees):" https://www.givenow.com.au/riserefugee/donate

* How to help Rohingya refugees: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/29/world/asia/rohingya-aid-myanmar-bangladesh.html?emc=edit_nn_20171012&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=50784086&te=1&_r=0

* Help fight for Net Neutrality restoration: http://gwydionmisha.tumblr.com/post/170010496350/democrats-are-just-one-vote-shy-of-restoring-net

* A list of organizations to help you run for office: http://lovingmyselfishard.tumblr.com/post/167330144634/psst-hey

* Trans Lifeline is one of those organizations you can call at (877) 565-8860 in the US and in Canada (877) 330- 6366.

* The Trevor Project has a 24 hour hotline geared toward helping our youth, and you can call it at 1-866-488-7386

* Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to the representative of your choice.

* This App phones your rep for you: http://takeastance.us/

* Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resistbot.io/

* Help pay for cat food, litter, meds, medical copays: Paypal Lethran@gmail.com

* Birthday/Solstice master list: https://gwydion.dreamwidth.org/1925021.html

* Want Game of Thrones without the creepy? We need new players. We are very inclusive. "Game of Bones MUSH:" gobmush.wikidot.com