eleveninches

Via Raising Women's Voices:

The Senate Finance Committee has been writing a health care reform bill and struggling to create legislation that will have bipartisan support. Chairman Max Baucus (pictured left) considered several compromises to win Republican support, so they can claim it is bipartisan legislation. One of these potential compromises comes in the form of an abortion exclusion, which would prevent abortion services from being covered by some or all insurance plans in the Health Insurance Exchange. We fear that members of the Senate Finance Committee are considering such a compromise.

And Our Bodies Our Blog:

Nineteen House members sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stating that they will not vote for health care reform legislation “unless it explicitly excludes abortion funding from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan.” [...]

The letter continues:

We believe that a government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan, should not be used to fund abortion.

Furthermore, we want to ensure that the Health Benefits Advisory Committee cannot recommend abortion services be included under covered benefits or as part of a benefits package. Without an explicit exclusion, abortion could be included in a government subsidized health care plan under general health care. The health care reform package produced by Congress will be landmark, and with legislation as important as this, abortion must be addressed clearly in the bill text.

Americans, please contact your members of Congress to urge them to oppose any bill that restricts a woman's access to reproductive services. According to Raising Women's Voices, this is especially important for citizens of Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Alaska, Oregon, New York, Michigan, Washington, Florida, New Jersey, Delaware, Iowa, Utah, Maine, Arizona, Kentucky, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, and Texas.

My co-worker, J., is a typical fandom geek. His friends are also standard fandom geeks. They all know I'm a geek, but none of them know about my being in fandom, for a multitude of reasons. (Reason one: Embarrassing.) J. has a friend, A., whose wife recently left him, and it's all he ever wants to talk about (understandably).

WELL, TODAY A., UNPROMPTED, TOLD ME THAT HIS WIFE LEFT HIM FOR A MAN SHE MET ON GATEWORLD.

I was like, "As in...?"

"As in the Stargate website, yes."

Srsly, I had no idea how to react to this. I think I just said, "No way!" over and over.

There's another warnings* debate/wank going around, and I would just like to repeat a comment I left somewhere else, which is: No one's fanfic is so special that a warning for non-con is going to spoil it. Not unless the surprise ending of your fic is, "And then s/he got raped. The end," in which case, your story is a badfic and you should be ashamed. No fanfic, and especially no non-con fanfic, is so amazing that your readers will go, "Oh no, I should never have read that warning for rape! That ruined everything!" So for people arguing that warnings ruin your ~artistic integrity~, your fanfic =/= Shakespeare.



* Warning: Very explicit discussion of sexual assault and the nature, anatomy, cause, and effect of triggers.

I'm sure a lot of Americans remember the website that popped up after the 2004 elections where the world said (through pictures) that they stood with those of us who didn't vote for Bush, and that they knew not all Americans were idiots. I remember that it made me smile. So I think this is a good way to show your support for the Iranian protesters, in hopes they can or will see it and it'll make them smile too. At this point, whether or not the election was fraudulent is irrelevant; what's important is the way in which the world has been united by the Iranians' bravery and desire for change.

If you feel posting a picture isn't enough, there are protests happening around the globe, and/or you can send an email to your local Iranian representative.

New sources:
The Huffington Post's live blog
The Guardian's live blog
The latest from the BBC

Videos of the protests in Tehran, for those who have missed it, at Andrew Sullivan's blog:

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/in-the-streets-today.html

Pictures of violence against the protesters, from Boston.com:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/irans_disputed_election.html

I finally, finally just saw Star Trek.

No spoilers, but what I want to say is that when I was a kid, my favourite was always Mr Sulu, because he was smart and because I thought George Takai was very handsome. So I like to pretend that when he was watching the new movie, George Takai turned to Shatner and said, "That's right, I am awesome."

In short: I loved the movie, and John Cho, call me.

Guess who has the swine flu.

One of my mother's patients had it last week (they only just found out today), and now my entire household has it. There are srsly not enough emoticons in the world to express my annoyance.

Why diabetes is an insane disease: I've lost 6 lbs. in the past week and a half, even though my mother treated me to a 1,000 calorie dinner at Cracker Barrel, a.k.a. the most glorious restaurant ever, on Friday. However, my clothes don't fit any differently. Goddammit. Speaking of which, I've got my mother addicted to Lost, but all her comments about Kate are making me feel bad, because Evangeline Lilly and I have the same body type. Mummy Dearest is all, "SHE HAS MAN SHOULDERS," and I'm all *cries silently into my drink*.

I'm kidding. Kidding. Mostly. Evangeline Lilly could totally kick my ass.

So as of last week, I am now Erin M. [last name], B.A. Honours in History, First Class. It's taken me a good 6 years to get this degree, so I'm burnt out. I'm heading off to Asia to teach English for a while before deciding what the hell I want to do with my life. I love history, but idk if I want to be in academia or if I want to do something that helps people in a more immediate way. Or if I want to write children's books. WHO KNOWS. The world is my oyster.

ETA: I forgot to add, I have 5 4 3 DW codes available. Email me at newtons.first.law @ gmail.com if you want one. First come, first serve.

Every time I read a US Congress(wo)man arguing there's no such thing thing as the greenhouse effect and that environmental caps will destroy America, I get so angry that there's a piercing, stabbing sensation above my right eye. It makes me almost as angry as when Fox news reporters claim waterboarding isn't torture or when doctors claim to be able to "cure" homosexuality or when people carry racist signs to their "tea parties" or-- actually, I need to stop right there before I have a stroke.

In non rage-inducing news, j.maz post this earlier today:

I wanted to have another go at the Beckett-Teyla scene

All I can say is: yessssssssssssssssssssss. I love how no matter who you pair Teyla with on the show, she will always be the man in the relationship.

Let's talk about Fringe. Is anyone watching this show other than aurora_84 and me?

( Sort-of spoilers for Fringe 1x17, Lost 4x01, and Lost 5x07. )

In response to some words by a certain fanficcer, I just wanted to say that I'm not only grateful for any feedback I get on my fics, but any comments I get on my lj, period, even when it takes me forever to reply to them. And that my current silence is not because I hate you bitches and I want you to die, but because I'm so, so, so, so busy finishing the last (!) of my undergraduate work. (One research project and one exam to go, bbs!) IMO there's no excuse for the kind of behaviour exhibited in that post unless you're a teenager, and even then, you deserve to be smacked upside the head. Trust me on this; I used to be the wankiest bitch on the block.

Isn't this the second flounce we've had in SGA fandom? I can only count two, but I've only been in fandom since S2, so I missed the whole Karen McFaddyon/Rivier/Merry thing.

Oh, and I have a Dreamwidth here at eleveninches, if anyone wants to friend it. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it yet. Maybe cross-post, depending on how many people leave lj. And if I leave lj. Idk.

ETA: I just read the saved links. tropes, you are my hero.

Dinosaurs may have been FUZZY.

This has raised the question of whether many more of the creatures may have been covered with similar bristles, or "dino-fuzz".

Fuzzy dinosaur + tiny dinosaur = TINY FUZZY DINOSAURS.

You ever have that thing where you want to read fanfic for a specific pairing on a show, but you're too afraid to go looking for it because the fic is bound to be horrible, and besides, you're not even sure there's fanfic for the show you want?

The pairing in question is Nikki/Ray from Big Love. I LOVE IT. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. But I fear the fanfic like John Sheppard fears vagina.

I got home from work today and the "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" article I'd put on the fridge was in the trash.

I know everyone and their mother has been reading Racefail09 and the recent coffeeandink shenanigans, but an IRL friend of mine gave me a copy of this after a discussion we had about how my INFURIATING ROOMMATE MATT claims he doesn't have any privilege because he's poor and uneducated. I think this is something we -- and by "we," I mean Mr Sh*tterly and his minions -- should read every now and then to remind ourselves that our perspective is not the only perspective. I printed this out to stick on my fridge. I give it three days before someone in my house tears it down.

Please note this was written by an American for Americans, but I think most of it can be applied across the board.

WHITE PRIVILEGE: UNPACKING THE INVISIBLE KNAPSACK
Source: PEACE AND FREEDOM
The bi-monthly journal of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
By Peggy McIntosh

I decided to try to work on myself at least by identifying some of the daily effects of white privilege in my life. I have chosen those conditions that I think in my case attach somewhat more to skin colour privilege than to class, religion, ethnic status, or geographic location, though of course all these other factors are intricately intertwined. As far as I can tell, my African American co-workers, friends, and acquaintances with whom I come into daily or frequent contact in this particular time, place and line of work cannot count on most of these conditions.

1. I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.

2. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area that I can afford and in which I would want to live.

3. I can be pretty sure that my neighbours in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.

4. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.

5. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.

6. When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization”, I am shown that people of my colour made it what it is.

7. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.

8. If want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.

9. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods that fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can deal with my hair.

10. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin colour not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.

11. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.

12. I can swear, or dress in second-hand clothes, or not answer letters without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race.

13. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.

14. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.

15. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.

16. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of colour, who constitute the world’s majority, without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.

17. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behaviour without being seen as a cultural outsider.

18. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to “the person in charge” I will be facing a person of my race.

19. If a traffic cop pulls me over, or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race.

20. I can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children’s magazines featuring people of my race.

21. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I begin to feeling somewhat tied in rather than isolated, out of place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, or feared.

22. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.

23. I can choose public accommodations without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.

24. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help my race will not work against me.

25. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.

26. I can choose blemish cover or bandages in “flesh” colour that more or less match my skin.

Law and Order UK is the best thing to ever happen to me.

ETA: Thanks so much to those who left me valentines on svmadelyn's Valentines Game. Every year without fail, I manage to miss leaving mine, but I ♥ all you guys.


This is incredibly preemptive of me, but the months of endless winter are driving me crazy. CRAZY. If, for whatever reason, eternallycait and I can't go to India together this spring, where should I go?

Places I've been: US, Canada, England, France, a tiny fraction of Germany, Luxembourg, a tiny part of Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Bulgaria.

Places I want to go: EVERYWHERE.

I'm not including Asia on this list, because I hope to be living in Asia come fall, and I'm going to go to as many places as humanly possible during that time.

Poll #1349790 ROAD TRIP!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Where in the world is lj user eleveninches?