(no subject)

* "Albanese demands explanation why Australia voted against Gaza inquiry:" https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/may/20/labor-asks-why-australia-voted-against-gaza-violence-inquiry

* "Despair haunts Gaza as blockade remains after bloody protests:" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/20/gaza-blockade-remains-after-protests-crossings-closed

* "Trump toys with abuse of office in beef against Washington Post:" http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-toys-with-abuse-of-office-in-beef-against-washington-post-1237348419810?playlist=associated

* "Trump risks presidency using his power to pursue personal animus:" http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-risks-presidency-using-his-power-to-pursue-personal-animus-1237366339893?playlist=associated

* This explains the reality that spawned the latest nonsense 45's been spouting. "FBI used informant after multiple Trump camp Russia contacts:" http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/fbi-used-informant-to-investigate-trump-russia-contacts-not-spy-1237329987974?playlist=associated

* "Malcolm Nance: FBI informant shows ‘underlying basis of criminality’:" http://www.msnbc.com/am-joy/watch/fbi-informant-on-trump-campaign-targeted-russian-ties-only-1237655619897

* "MSNBC analyst Naveed Jamali: Is Kushner using ‘diplomacy or pay-to-play’?:" http://www.msnbc.com/am-joy/watch/kushner-s-family-company-receives-bail-out-from-qatar-linked-fund-1237675587670

* "N.C. teachers are rallying for better pay, better funding — and Medicaid expansion:" https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/zm8x49/north-carolina-teachers-are-rallying-for-better-pay-funding-and-medicaid-expansion

* "Everyone I’ve ever talked to who has been poor and is not anymore has the same story of the moment they realized they weren’t poor anymore: grocery shopping.:" https://twitter.com/ErynnBrook/status/996510342652968961

* "Teen gun control activist Matt Post: ‘We need to address gun sickness’:" http://www.msnbc.com/am-joy/watch/gun-control-activists-discuss-santa-fe-and-national-school-walkout-1237660739914

* "Malloy to governors: 'You can make your state safer':" http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/malloy-to-governors-you-can-make-your-state-safer-1237313091666

* "'This is not a school safety issue, this is an American safety issue':" http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/-this-is-not-a-school-safety-issue-this-is-an-american-safety-issue-1237315651504

* "Trump undercuts women's health in kowtow to social conservatives:" http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-undercuts-women-s-health-in-kowtow-to-social-conservatives-1237358659826?playlist=associated

* "Denny's LA Trans Fail:" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2018/05/dennys-la-trans-fail.html

* So you'll notice I haven't commented on the Royal Wedding to this point. my background in Medieval history might lead a person to assume this is up my alley, but it really isn't. I've never been a fan of the house of Hanover/Windsor, and I'm not even a little bit a monarchist. That said, I do have some thoughts on this wedding, which I'll get to in a bit.

The very first time I was allowed to stay up all night was for the wedding of Princess Anne, back when I was a toddler. I have vague memories of some images from the procession and her dress from the ceremony itself. Much sharper is the excitement of having an indoor picnic in the middle of the night with the rare treat that was take out Chinese food. (We were poor. Any sort of restaurant food was exciting, and I already had a precocious taste for spice and hot peppers). It was just ridiculously fun to be awake and having a special treat. My baby sister had jut grown her first too teeth, which randomly were both incisors, so we had this joke that she was a baby vampire. Too me some strangers getting married on the other side of the ocean meant nothing, but an adventure with my family, even if it was in our own living room was a joyous thing.

As a small child, every teenaged girl who baby sat us (except the one who'd tell me Poe stories as bedtime stories who was my favorite) wanted to marry one of the princes. I couldn't imagine wanting to live that life in the spot light and it all looked so boring. I remember all the Diana hoopla and half my class at school being crazy over it. Certainly, I saw highlights and stills, and like pretty much everyone, that dress really was a fairy tale princess thing, even if it looks dated now. I had even less interest in celebrity gossip than I do now, and I was old enough by then not to see the Point of modern monarchy. Yes, I understand now it generates a lot of tourism and some of them do charity things, but it strikes me as vestigial, and if you offered me a choice of meeting the royal family or a trip to the Tower of London or the British Museum or the like, I'd be at the museum in a heartbeat. It's nice when they do the charity stuff, but most celebrities are boring, and modern royals are generally a less interesting type of celebrity. Diana was so popular that one couldn't help catching glimpses of what was going on, even as busy as I was. (That particular thing prince Charles said to Camilla about the tampon haunts my dreams and I wish that I could unhear it, but it was everywhere.) We didn't know how bad things were for Diana, but even as isolated as I tried to make myself, one could get glimpses of how bad things must be. Everything I saw in the Diana and Fergie years made me think there was not enough money in the world to make me want to live that life.

When the photographers hounded her to death I wa in the gap between two Master's degrees, working the worst job in my life. (Much worse than the one that involved cleaning colostomy and dealing with other people's poop). Eight hours on one's feet, not allowed your legally mandated breaks except a short lunch, no bathroom breaks at all, random body searches, in an incredibly load factory warehouse with country music blasting over the growl and rumble of the machines, metal bars flying randomly at my head, everyone there more than a few days had repetitive stress injuries, all for minimum wage. I'd wake up at the crack of dawn for my shift, my entire body in terrible pain already, pain that would only get dramatically worse. I permanently damaged my feet working there amoung other things. I remember Skye explaining to me what happened, as I was pretty much either at work, asleep, or dazed from the pain the month I worked there and I basically only watched things we taped on the VCR, like Babylon 5 as I moved around in the pain and exhaustion stupor. It took awhile to sink in, even though I wasn't a royal watcher. It just seemed like she'd finally got free of a terrible situation that had been killing her and then this happens. I felt bad for her, but worse for the kids, even through my general indifference to modern royalty. It felt liked she'd been tricked into a terrible situation that ultimately killed her, and that these kids were imprisoned in a fundamentally toxic situation that was likely going to ruin their lives the way it had ruined the lives of their parents. I would legitimately have chosen my crappy subsistence lifestyle over it in a heartbeat.

It is good to see that some of the lessons from what happened did sink in, that they really made an effort to change things for the better for the Princes, that there was a lot more thought put into both realistic expectations of what people marrying into that are dealing with and actual effort put into integrating the newcomers into what is an extreme lifestyle. Kate Middleton really does seem to have been prepared and good at a job I can't imagine wanting to do. It's not an institution that makes sense to me, but I am against cruelty, and things seem all right these days.

I think Meghan Markle is an excellent choice, to be honest. She's had enough of the right sort of experience to consent knowing exactly what she's getting into. She seems to have the right skills, and am all for further airing out the royal gene pool. Judging from some of the incredibly racist commentary around the original announcement, it's pretty clearly good for England to get a Princess who isn't white and I can only hope that seeing a royal of African descent in the news on the regular will help cut down on racist assholery around things like the casting of Queen Margaret in the Hollow Crown and such like. If there is going to be a monarchy, then modernizing it is all to the best, I say.

So I wish them well, but I honestly didn't see the point of sitting around watching the wedding for me when I could reading or sleeping or cuddling cats or watching something more relevant to my interests, though I don't blame anyone who IS interested and did watch the whole thing. After all, my parents loved that stuff and watched all the royal weddings when they were alive. The highlights are turning up in the news anyway. Props to them for getting that...is he a Bishop or an archbishop? Anyway. I really liked his speech, which is the bit that I actually saw in the news. It's a lot more interesting than I was expecting out of a royal wedding.

* This comic is beautifully drawn. "Novae Comic - How two lost stars locked gravity:" http://www.novaecomic.com/

* "The Expanse Amazes In Mid-Season:" https://www.thefandomentals.com/the-expanse-s03-e06/

* "Into the Badlands, Season 3, Episode 4: Chapter XX: Blind Cannibal Assassins:" http://www.fangsforthefantasy.com/2018/05/into-badlands-season-3-episode-4.html

* "Elementary Reenacts History in Pushing Buttons:" https://www.thefandomentals.com/elementary-pushing-buttons-review/

* "Denethor Despairs at the Siege of Gondor:" https://www.thefandomentals.com/denethor-siege-gondor-lotr-reread/

* I used all my money on housing and insurance March, and April it all went to housing and car things. I need the car to get around as I am disabled. I need to raise about $110 to finish catching up. If you'd like to chip in: Paypal Lethran@gmail.com

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

* Want to help people on the Big Island of Hawaii? https://www.gofundme.com/hawaiinaturaldisastersrelief

* 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

* 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