On Saturday evening, while waiting to get seated for a thoroughly hilarious movie, I retweeted something about one of the presidential candidates. A friend replied that what I’d retweeted was B.S. I tried to figure out how to respond without coming across as dismissive or snarky. And I was not in a position to easily pull up links to back it up. And twitter isn’t a good place to try to have such conversations.
The friends asked me to send the links later. So the sole purpose of this post is to collect several links, most of which have already been posted on this blog. If you don’t want to read any more of my opinions on a particular presidential candidate, don’t click through on the Read More link below. Instead, may I suggest a happy link instead: This High School Cross-Country Team Takes Lonely Shelter Dogs On Their Morning Runs. That’s much more fun, no?
But I need to get back to writing. Especially since I have promised some stories to several people.
Anyway, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week, sorted into various topic areas.
Links of the Week
I Know Why Poor Whites Chant Trump, Trump, Trump. This is a long read, but it is an excellent article that has almost nothing to do with Trump, and instead talks about a few hundred years of how poor people of all races have been treated and manipulated in North America.
Stockton mayor arrested at youth camp in Amador County. Previously, Mayor Silva has held official town hall meetings at an anti-gay megachurch and once held a taxpayer-funded ceremony to present the key to the city to God (who sadly did not attend).
David Huddleston, Who Played ‘The Big Lebowski,’ Dies at 85. Until I saw his obituary, I never knew Huddleston was in that movie, because I’ve never seen it nor been interested in it. To me, Huddleston was one of the last of the great character actors: he played similar men in supporting roles in hundreds of TV episodes and movies.
Flow chart to help figure out if your First Amendment rights have been violated. (Click to embiggen)So I recently wrote about a professional internet troll who was finally kicked off Twitter after years of extensively documented organized harassment of (mostly) women on line. He was finally kicked off because he went after one of the actresses in Ghostbusters and she was famous enough that major news sites carried stories about it and so forth. In case there was any doubt about what will actually motivate a company like Twitter to enforce its own rules. Anyway, I got a fairly long comment on that post yesterday. The person left the comment under his own WordPress account, which links to a very active blog, so he isn’t trying to be anonymous. And he asks some questions, apparently expecting answers.
But I’m not approving the comment, and have added him to the blacklist because he couldn’t finish the comment without including racial slurs (aimed at the actress).
So I’m not going to subject anyone else on the internet to that. Since I have previously stated that my policy is to approve comments that disagree with me if the person seems to legitimately want to discuss, I confess that I wrestled with the decision for a little bit. One of the options I have is to edit a comment before I approve it. So I could just delete the slur, right? But I’ve never edited a comment, because that seems to cross a line for me. The comment system warns you that I screen comments and it won’t appear until approved, but editing opens me up for accusations that I’ve changed something else, you know.
And I honestly don’t want to send any traffic to a site run by someone who would deploy a slur like that.
But I do want to address a few things. The commenter first opined that if I were going to write about this particular instance of harassment, I’m obligated to write about any and every other instance of harassment going on in the world. No, no I’m not. This is a personal blog. I’m not a journalist. I’m not representing myself as a news site. I have been an editor of campus newspapers a zillion years ago, and worked as a freelancer for a short time; but even then, editorial discretion applied—a publication should choose which stories are relevant to their readers, and in how much depth to cover them.
I have written about some other instances of harassment. I’ve written about the general topic of online harassment many times. I link to news stories and opinion pieces about these sorts of things in Friday Links quite often.
The commenter went further and listed three specific events which he thought were similar to the organized harassment story I mentioned above, and asked whether I have covered them, as well. Again, with the assertion that I’m obligated to do so since I commented on this one. Of the three events he listed, two are mythical. They are false stories that many conservative web sites trot out from time to time that have been debunked. So, no, I have not written about them.
The third one, the Isreali Hasbera operation, well, I suppose it is worth commenting on, but if Al Jazeera has declared it a failure two years ago, I’m not sure what more there is to say about it: The grand failure of Israeli hasbara. An even bigger problem is that a government intelligence agency creating sock puppet accounts to harass and spread misinformation, while it is a deplorable thing, isn’t the same as a private individual encouraging other private individuals to flood yet another person’s social media accounts with racist and misogynist harassment, death threats, rapes threats, et cetera.
It’s a false equivalency. Just as a private company deciding not to serve a customer who abuses other customers is not censorship. I understand that the commenter is looking at the alleged online harassment by government officials as similar to other forms of harassment. Harassment is bad. Which I’ve said many times.
But it’s not in the same lane as a raving mob of fragile man-babies/mens-rights-advocates harassing someone. It’s not in the same lane as sci-fi/fantasy fandom gatekeeping. It’s not in the same lane as societal racism and misogyny. All of those are topics I comment on all the time. And the original story was an intersection of all of those things, which is one of the reasons why I commented on it.
But I comment on things like that because I have personal experience with all of those things. I can write about them from that experience. I don’t have personal experience with the machinations of the Isreali government. The likelihood that I’ll have something to say that is any different or insightful than other articles/posts you can read on that topic is nil. So I don’t go there very often. I’m far more likely to comment on Isreali pinkwashing, because as a queer man, I have some experience seeing my very existence used as a talking point by politicians.
Yes, I’ve also commented on various atrocities committed by governments. So, maybe if there’s a new development in this area someday, I might comment on it. More likely I’ll include a link in Friday Links and let my readers who are interested follow up.
It’s my blog. It’s my opinion. I get to decide what I get worked up over, and what things I will ask my readers to spend their bandwidth on. The wingnut has his own blog. He can talk about these topics there.
Jerry Emmett, the 102-year-old honorary chair of the Arizona Democratic delegation, speaks during the Roll Call of the States.It’s the fifth Friday in July, and I’m glad that Friday is finally here. It was a much better week, for me, at least in the news from the real world sense. I’m feeling a lot more hope for the future this week than I was last week.
Anyway, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week, sorted into various topic areas.
Ken Ham Isn’t a Big Bad Ogre: Why I Feel Bad About Ark Encounter. But he is still a liar (who posted photos of another event claiming that it was opening day), and a con man (who convinced the state to give him tax money for a religious project, that’s after essentially embezzling from a religious group he used to work for in Australia), and a peddler of lies and pseudo science. But we’re suppose to believe he’s not an ogre. Fine, he’s not an ogre, he’s a parasite.
@samkalidi posted these two pics with the comment, “It’s hard to tell the difference between this year’s Republican National Convention and Comic-Con.”It’s the fourth Friday in July, and I’m glad that Friday is finally here. After a week of trying not to watch the white supremacist trainwreck that is this year’s Republican Convention, I’m really looking forward to going out with my husband to see Star Trek tonight and Absolutely Fabulous tomorrow night. I need to get away from the real world for a few hours!
And the news, not just out of the Republican Convention, was full of way more unpleasantness than I usually see. I decided not to include a bunch of links that I had bookmarked for this week’s posts because I felt that it was just getting too overwhelming. I also decided to re-arrange things a little bit, so that more of the good news is concentrated together. I’m not sure if it’s an improvement, but I hope it is.
Anyway, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week, sorted into various topic areas.
A Note On a Jackass Getting Booted From Twitter. “So the math there at least appears pretty obvious from the outside. You can punch down on Twitter and get away with it, but don’t punch up, and punch up enough to make Twitter look bad, or you’ll get in trouble (after more than a day).”
Dan Savage on Jill Stein: Just No. A vote for the Green Party candidate is exactly a vote for Trump, and so is a vote for the Libertarian. And if you don’t understand that, let me first explain to you that the Earth is not flat.
Ghostbusters 2016 Red-Carpet Interviews w/ Cast, Crew & Lindalee Rose (make sure you stick around to see the little girl interview Kate McKinnon about Holtzman):
New York Daily New cover speculating as to which awful, misogynist, racist, homophobic politician will be chosen as the running mate for the tangerine-skinned neo-fascist con-man.It’s the third Friday in July, and it hasn’t been a great week. Maybe not as awful as last week, but plenty of scary and unpleasant things happening. I’m doing my very best not to think about that stuff at least tonight, because my husband and I are going to go see Ghostbusters, and I’m really looking forward to it.
Anyway, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week, sorted into various topic areas.
Aren’t more white people than black people killed by police? Yes, but no. There are two different parts to the “no.” First, portionate to their part of the populate, black people are nearly three times more likely to be killed by cops than whites. But the big difference is this: of UNARMED suspects killed by cops? Far more black unarmed suspects than white unarmed suspects are killed by cops every year.
One of them is an animated corpse who scares people by reading from an old musty book of gory made-up stories and wickedly relishing the ruin of others — and the other is the Crypt Keeper.Op-Ed: Christian Universities Can’t Have It Both Ways.
Another in my series of posts recommending web comics that I think more people should read:
My copy of the paper book collecting the entirety of TJ & Amal’s adventure that is, despite the title, quite epic!First, I have recommended many times The Less Than Epic Adventures of T.J. and Amal by E.K. Weaver, which is a long and completed story that is extremely good. The artwork is amazing, the characters are engaging, and the story is just wonderful. I mean seriously, just go look at the first several comics on the website and see how much she conveys without a single word of dialog or narration!
I am writing about this great comic again because just last month there was some awesome news about it that I totally missed. The paper version of the complete The Less Than Epic Adventures of T.J. and Amalwon the Lamba Literary Award for best LGBT graphic novel! Congratulations to E.K. Weaver! Your story totally deserved it!
The first panel of the http://chainsawsuit.com/comic/2016/07/07/all-houses-matter-the-extended-cut/ comic. You should go read it!In less wonderful news, because of yet more deaths of black men at the hands of police in circumstances that anyone who watches the video and has an ounce of sense would agree would get the gunman convicted of murder in a rational society, a lot of people are trotting out angry arguments against the Black Lives Matters groups that really make no sense if you have any context at all. Fortunately, Kris Staub explains why All Lives Matter doesn’t mean what they think it means in cartoon from: all houses matter: the extended cut. Political commentary aside, Chain Saw Suit by Kris Staub is another one of these comics that I don’t have to remember to go check, because a few times a month someone shares a link on social media, I go read the linked comic, and then I read the others that have been published since I last read one. They’re usually not political, but just funny commentary on the eccentricities of being human.
Some of the comics I’ve previously recommended:
“Mr. Cow,” by Chuck Melville tells the tale of a clueless cow with Walter Cronkite dreams. If the twice-weekly gags about a barnyard of a newsroom aren’t enough excitement for you the same artist also writes and draws (and colors!) some awesome fantasy series: Champions of Katara and Felicia, Sorceress of Katara. If you like Mr. Cow, Felicia, or Flagstaff (the hero of Champions of Katara) you can support the artist by going to his Patreon Page. Also, can I interest you in a Mr. Cow Mug?
“Deer Me,” by Sheryl Schopfer tells the tales from the lives of three friends (and former roommates) who couldn’t be more dissimilar while being surprisingly compatible. If you enjoy Deer Me, you can support the artist by going to her Patreon Page!
Scurry by Mac Smith is the story of a colony of mice trying to survive a long, strange winter in a world where humans have mysteriously vanished, and food is becoming ever more scarce.
And I love this impish girl thief with a tail and her reluctant undead sorcerer/bodyguard: “Unsounded,” by Ashley Cope.
Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu is the story of Eric “Bitty” Biddle, a former junior figure skating champion from a southern state who is attending fictitious Samwell College in Massachusetts, where he plays on the men’s hockey team. Bitty is the smallest guy on the team, and in the early comics is dealing with a phobia of being body-checked in the games. He’s an enthusiastic baker, and a die hard Beyoncé fan.
The Young Protectors by Alex Wolfson begins when a young, closeted teen-age superhero who has just snuck into a gay bar for the first time is seen exiting said bar by a not-so-young, very experienced, very powerful, super-villain. Trouble, of course, ensues.
Caterwall by Spain Fischer is the story of Pax (the orphaned son of a knight who was the hero of the kingdom) and his best friend Gavin (the descendant of a line of seers). Pax is a young man who has a reputation for pulling pranks and telling lies, who gets exiled from the kingdom.
The Junior Science Power Hour by Abby Howard. is frequently autobiographical take on the artist’s journey to creating the crazy strip about science, science nerds, why girls are just as good at being science nerds as boys, and so much more. It will definitely appeal to dinosaur nerds, anyone who has ever been enthusiastic about any science topic, and especially to people who has ever felt like a square peg being forced into round holes by society.
If you want to read a nice, long graphic-novel style story which recently published its conclusion, check-out the not quite accurately named, The Less Than Epic Adventures of T.J. and Amal by E.K. Weaver. I say inaccurate because I found their story quite epic (not to mention engaging, moving, surprising, fulfilling… I could go on). Some sections of the tale are Not Safe For Work, as they say, though she marks them clearly. The complete graphic novels are available for sale in both ebook and paper versions, by the way.
Oglaf, by Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne is a Not Safe For Work web comic about… well, it’s sort a generic “medieval” high fantasy universe, but with adult themes, often sexual. Jokes are based on fantasy story and movie clichés, gaming tropes, and the like. And let me repeat, since I got a startled message from someone in response to a previous posting of this recommendation: Oglaf is Not Safe For Work (NSFW)!
Which states have the highest rate of gun deaths? No, not NY, IL or CA. It’s the ones with lax gun rules. (click to embiggen)Friday has finally arrived. It is the second Friday in July. I was actually surprised that this week’s collection of links is at least as big as last week’s, given that I’ve been busy with Camp NaNoWriMo and then came down sick.
Anyway, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week, sorted into various topic areas.
Searching for a good reason to remove the headphone jack. “Is Apple removing the headphone jack from the iPhone? Nobody really knows… This is a tech unicorn, an unannounced feature on a nonexistent product, and it’s important to keep that in mind.”
Brazil Is Confronting an Epidemic of Anti-Gay Violence. This nugget is buried near the end of the article: “The anti-gay violence, [experts] contend, can be traced to Brazil’s culture of machismo and a brand of evangelical Christianity, exported from the United States, that is outspoken in its opposition to homosexuality. Evangelicals make up nearly a quarter of Brazil’s population, up from 5 percent in 1970, and religious leaders reach millions of people through the hundreds of television and radio stations they have purchased in recent years.”
An Open Letter To Reince Preibus . I think it’s almost cute that the “GOP media guy” who wrote thinks that Trump’s voter base is in any significant way different that the voter base the Republican’s have been courting, encouraging, and creating for the last 36 years…
Noel Neill with George Reeves on the set of the Superman TV series. Years before playing Lois with Reeves, Neil played Lois Lane opposite Kirk Allyn in two movies, 1946’s Superman, and 1948’s Atom Man vs Superman.Noel Neill dies at 95; first actress to play Lois Lane.
“America and Britain are having a competition on who can f*ck themselves up the most. Britain is in the lead, but America has a Trump card.” (click to embiggen)Friday has finally arrived. It is the first Friday in July, which means that I’ve started my Camp NaNoWriMo project and looking forward to a nice holiday weekend with my hubby. I was a little shocked when I assembled this week’s links, because the number was so much higher than usual. In fact, it might be the most links I’ve ever put together for a Friday Links post! Maybe I’m trying to get a jump on the rest o the month, since I’ll be spending all of my lunches writing rather than half reading the news and half writing. I’m not sure.
Anyway, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week, sorted into various topic areas.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this category. As I mentioned to a friend, if a person is reading my blog, they either are a member of the queer community, or they are an ally, or they are an enemy who is following me to see what we’re up to. I thought about changing the headline for this section to someting like “News for people who aren’t haters” or something even snarkier. Does anyone have any ideas? Let me know.
Friday has finally arrived. It is the final Friday in June, which means that here in Seattle this is Queer Pride Weekend! My husband and I have a full schedule, as we are attending events related to the Locus Awards (a sci fi fandom thing) and the Pride events, both this weekend. Se I have a lot of things to get to!
Anyway, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week, sorted into various topic areas.
The votes in the EU referendum in the UK were still being counted when I queued up and posted the Friday links last night. So I didn’t include any news on it, but now as stock markets around the world are plummeting on the news, I figure it’s worth adding some info now:
I’ve been thinking a lot about this category. As I mentioned to a friend, if a person is reading my blog, they either are a member of the queer community, or they are an ally, or they are an enemy who is following me to see what we’re up to. I thought about changing the headline for this section to someting like “News for people who aren’t haters” or something even snarkier. Does anyone have any ideas? Let me know.
After False Show of Solidarity, House GOPs Block LGBT Protections Bill. Listen: I’m tired of pretending that the leadership of the Republican party isn’t evil. They are evil. Let’s stop trying to be noble and pretend that we’re just talking about differences of opinion. Their policies, literally kill people. Why can’t we admit that?
The Democrats Are Boldly Fighting For a Bad, Stupid Bill. I don’t completely agree with the headline. This is a far more complicated issue than it appears, and passing the bill would open up a new avenue for people to appeal their listing on the no-fly list. Arguments about the list seem to be stuck in a spot where no one can actually allow us to try to improve the situation.
John Grant – Glacier (yes, least week I posted a video of a live performance of John and Kylie Minogue performing this song and dedicating it to the survivors of the Orlando shooting; this official music video of the song released two years ago is worth the watch):
Eli Lieb & Brandon Skeie – Pulse (last Sunday, after seeing the news out of Orlando, Eli and Brandon wrote this song, and then went out in West Hollywood for film people for the video):
Font Folly 