Wake the Sun

I'm back in Dallas! And at work but it's fine, it's Friday. And next week's a short week, so.

The Bay Area was fab - it's kinda counterintuitive to go to a bigger city (in a different state) to get away from people but there's something about being by yourself in a crowd, you know? Not to mention Angel Island (have I talked enough about how much I loved that place?):



I've got a couple more photos to post, will probably get to that tomorrow-ish.



* sitara, D and I were talking about physical violence vs. emotional/psychological violence vs. the destruction of property (as an act of protest) a couple weeks ago, which made forthwritten's "The argument of the broken pane is the most valuable argument in modern politics" especially interesting reading.

* News items you might have missed on election night

* A special report in the Tennessean: The Price of Fear. Whether anti-Muslim crusaders are warning America or spreading hate, they make millions of dollars in the process.

* From the Washington Post: Mental health is the new antiabortion battleground. But the science is all wrong.

* Internet Censorship One Step Closer to Law: The EFF responded to this morning's vote saying that it is "deeply disappointed to report that the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the COICA Internet censorship bill this morning, despite bipartisan opposition, and countless experts pointing out how it would be ineffective, unconstitutional, bad for innovation and the tech economy, and would break the Internet."

* By marina: The more things change. I've had a few conversations with people in various venues and forums in fandom where they've expressed to me a certain frustration with what's called "social justice" issues in fandom - raising awareness of and critiquing racism, homophobia, transphobia and various other isms. I've heard people say they're not sure any of this "fandom activism" has a point, whether it's really having an impact, or if it's just more visible now, for whatever reason, and doesn't really change anything worth changing. This is puzzling to me, because that isn't at all how I feel, and so I submit several points for your consideration.

~*~

* I've been reading about the TSA body scanning/'enhanced' pat down mess all week - I've flown twice so it was immediately relevant. I'd decided I'd opt out if it came up, but they didn't have the scanners at DFW (that I saw, anyway) and only one - in the first class line - at SFO.

* elusis has some of the best commentary I've seen so far: It is no accident that women have been complaining about being pulled out of line because of their big breasts, having their bodies commented on by TSA officials, and getting inappropriate touching when selected for pat-downs for nearly 10 years now, but just this week it went viral. It is no accident that CAIR identified Islamic head scarves (hijab) as an automatic trigger for extra screenings in January, but just this week it went viral. What was different?

Suddenly an able-bodied white man is the one who was complaining..

* There are dozens of stories coming in from all over the blogosphere (Note: READ WITH CAUTION - many of these deal with unconsentual and sexualized touching and may be triggering). browneyedgirl65 has been doing regular roundups.

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* A reminder: Yuletide signups CLOSE TODAY at 11:59pm EST. And if you haven't yet, be sure to check out dark_agenda and access_fandom's challenge!

* I went back and forth on signing up a dozen times before deciding to go for it - dhobikikutti's post - Yuletide, AO3 and me - was the deciding factor.

* That said, there are a couple interesting discussions going on re: setting up a separate rare fandom fic exchange.

~*~

* Dreamwidth has it's own inception_kink comm!

* Photographic evidence that squid can fly

* SCIENCE! has finally figured out how cats drink.

* This story is even more amazing when you remember how dangerous hippos are.

* Grandma's superhero therapy. I wonder if I can do something similar for my grandma. Get her set up on Facebook (even though it is EVIL), at least.

* the_future_modernes says Dear internet...Are you aware of the FABULOUS site Women make movies .com?

* Tracy Butler, who does the Lackadaisy webcomic, goes over her comic panel process.

* A lovely little video made from time-lapsed photography.

* Out My Window: Interactive views of global highrises

* There's a brief line test for the Legend of Korra floating around - girl looks good.