This week in The Slacktiverse, August 27/28 2011

The Blogaround

This week Ana Mardoll posted:
Twilight: Sound Effects Added To Lessen Tragedy
According to the text of Twilight, Bella has a chronic pain condition: she falls down almost daily. This should make her a rare Weak Character, right? But her “weakness” is never presented as such – she is rarely seriously hurt from her falls, doesn’t deal with residual pain over time, and the trait seems less a characterization or a point of motivation and more a convenient excuse to be carried around by strong men. Is Bella’s fluffy falling insulting to people with chronic conditions or offensively proscriptive for heterosexual relationship or both or neither? Come help us decide!

MercuryBlue reports: I wrote --for Affairs Magazine -- Benefits of Privilege , a review of episodes five and six of Friends with Benefits, in which many characters show their asses with respect to issues of privilege and we're apparently supposed to sympathize with the character who is committing sexual harassment and Mardi Gras a review of episodes, seven and eight. This show would make a fascinating case study for a course exploring privilege as shown in the media.

Ruby reports: This week Paul Apostle tries to find God in Atheistopian!New York City in Soon: Chapter 18: The Very Intense Interrogation and Soon: Chapter 18: Call Me Phyllis.

This week, storiteller wrote about taking a trapeze class with her Mom - And For Our Next Trick - and how an offering of produce totally changed the tone of a conversation she was having with a neighborhood kid - A Brief Neighborhood Interlude.

Invisible Neutrino (the former Pius Thicknesse) has returned to blogging after a long hiatus. He requests that people revisiting the blog after a long hiatus start with Part Three Begins.

hapax has written about her fascination with learning about the religions, beliefs, and worldviews of others in Being Wrong About The Elephant.

This week mmy wrote about the death of Jack Layton and his state funeral (And today I am feeling very Canadian). She also posted a piece about the difference between Anomie and Accidie and We've been framed! part one about the lack of equivalence between calling a man a misogynist and accusing a woman of hating men.

Literata mused on the place of fictional or invented deities in contemporary Paganism and shared a myth of her own about a feline pantheon, The Pride of Heaven. To comment on the extreme right-wing in American politics, she adapted the Beatitudes into a Randian form: The Bedamnitudes, or, Curses from the Speech in Galt's Gulch.

Michael Mock writes: This week on the Blog o' Doom, I've been sharing my impressions of Firstborn's First Week of Kindergarten: the first day, the third day, and the special Day 5 Zombie Edition. The Deranged Cultist is making some arrangements with his girlfriend's family. Finally, the Mad Scientist has figured out how to deal with an overcurious neighborhood dog.

Laiima writes: this Virgo month, I'm considering what has died in my life, and what to do about it (compost happens); authors I've discovered or rediscovered at my local library (favorite authors, old and new); another shift in my identity (find my heart); and some neighbors I've met on nightly walks.

Coleslaw reports: In Modesty Forbids I discuss a blog post that offers advice to "girls" about how to attract a "Godly man". The Legend is a brief response to the news that coaching legend Pat Summitt has been diagnosed with early onset dementia. Bullseye is an account of my experience with security measures at Target while trying to buy razor blades.

The former conservative bloger reports: This week I wrote about how Islamophobia is an issue I feel passionately about and which particularly angers me (This isn't how Americans or Christians act); wrote about how some people behave inappropriately on facebook; wrote about the Rapture Ready bulletin board community's bigotry towards Catholicism; wrote about why Rick Perry's religious views are indeed a valid think to ask about during the campaign (Leave Ricky alone); and continued my commentary on Christian scare film, The Burning Hell.

Trigger Warning: Transhumanism, uplifting, violence, disturbing imagery in the synopsis, language, child abuse

J. Enigma writes: First up, the updates to my ongoing fiction story, Human Black Box. The saga in Vegas continues here with Part 3 and Part 4. In part 3, the group is betrayed by one of their own and their attempted escape from the exhumans goes all sorts of wrong when the 900 pound elephant in the room makes its presence felt. Part 4 has the team - now reduced to four (five if you count Sava) - stranded in the middle of Las Vegas, which might as well be a different planet now. They encounter strange trees, even stranger creatures, and, something arguably worse than the exhumans. In Vegas, sometimes you hit the jackpot, and other times you come up short. Very short. You can find all of the previous parts of Human Black Box here, in the archive.

Trigger Warning: Transhumanism, Uplifting

J. Enigma continues: In the meantime, I also blogged about an article on World News Daily; apparently, they discovered Transhumanism and firmly believe it will bring about the End of Days and the Second Coming of Christ. Naturally, I responded. Trigger Warning:Islamophobia, Homophobia I also found the time to respond to another World News Daily article, this one claiming that those evil, Sharia-law promoting Muslims are actually backing the "homosexual lobby" in their attempts to "weaken America" (A Brown Dwarf Among Social Illuminaries), Trigger Warning: Homophobia, Religious Extremism, Misogyny, Slavery I also wrote a Saturday Essay examining the nature of Dominionism and it's close friend, Christian Reconstructionism, and lastly, I blogged about the really neat discovery of an ultra-cool brown dwarf star that burns about 86 degrees F not far from us (in relative terms), and the implications it might have for future space travel, as well as explaining some things about stars and star types.

Last week Ana Mardoll posted:
Twilight: Sitting at Desks with Boys
Mike Newton may be the healthiest boy in the Twilight-verse, but he still seems to be trying to become a boyfriend “by default” – i.e., by taking on a boyfriend role for Bella without actually having to do any of the hard stuff, like verbally indicate his interest in her. Is Mike really just a “mini-Edward”, ignoring Bella’s wishes in favor of doing what he sees is best for her/him/them? Come help us decide!

Last week Ana Mardoll posted:
Narnia: Syllogisms that Demand a Verdict
It’s strange to see Edmund suddenly deny the existence of Narnia just to get in a dig at Lucy when he’s been magically compelled by the Witch to bring his siblings back as soon as possible. This behavior can perhaps be justified with a back-firing command spell, but is it possible that the episode was placed in here by Lewis for another reason? The Edmund/Lucy argument sets up a nice situation where The Professor can show off the classic Lewis Trilemma to prove the existence of Narnia, Jesus, and an infinite number of alternate worlds. Come discuss the Liar-Lunatic-Lord theory with us, with a nice side discussion on prequelitis and retconning!

Last week Ana Mardoll posted:
Religion: Why Wikipedia Isn’t the Alpha and Omega of Religious Studies
Opinion Piece: Religious identification is complicated, and self-identification shouldn’t be stripped away by external judgment. Every religion on earth has dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of variations of a number of themes and no one person owns the definition on these religions such that they can say, “No, you are not that religion – your self-identification is wrong.” You can be a Wiccan without following any of Gardner’s beliefs, and you can be a Christian without believing that Jesus was an eternally existing god distilled into human flesh. Religion is more complicated than a Wikipedia article and self-identification should be treated with respect.

In case you missed this

Literata invites members of the Slacktiverse to celebrate with her because she had a piece on Pagan archetypes in contemporary fiction published in a new anthology.

Sixwing writes: Here is an article on the AMT, or Alternative Minimum Tax, expanding upon how it works and why it isn't evil. Considering that this is one of the bugaboos that gets waved around occasionally, it is useful to run across an explanation of how it does what it does.

truth is life writes: A supernova has recently been discovered only 21 million light years from Earth in M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, closer than any other supernovas of the type in 30 years. Bad Astronomy and Lawrence Berkeley Labs have more detailed articles. Due to its nearness, it will probably be visible in small telescopes and binoculars over the next week or two. Any amateur astronomers among the readership might want to take a look if they can.

Things you can do

Senator Al Franken is asking people to sign this online petition to repeal DOMA.

--Co-authored by the Slacktiverse Community

---

The Board Administration Team
(hapax, Kit Whitfield and mmy)

Comments

[Kit Whitfield]

Yay Literata! Congratulations!

[Literata]

Thanks, Kit!

[Coleslaw]

Literata, that is cool!

[Cliff]

So I understand the trigger warnings about rape and child abuse, but why the trigger warning for transhumanism?

[Literata]

Cliff, I requested a trigger warning for transhumanism/uplifting because it is extremely triggering for me. We could say "animal experimentation," or what I would describe as "animal abuse," but J. has agreed that the way he writes about transhumanism nearly always involves these kinds of ideas, so "transhumanism" is the most comprehensive way to state the TW.

[Literata]

Thanks, Coleslaw! It was actually a fun article to write.

[Cliff]

That makes sense. I was thinking, I may not really like Ray Kurzweil but he doesn't give me anxiety attacks.

[Lonespark]

Hey slacktivites!

Has anybody read The Language of God by Francis S. Collins? Better yet, has anybody deconstructed it?

We came through the former-hurricane very well indeed, and had a lovely family togetherness day waiting it out.

[Kit Whitfield]

Question: does anyone know how to start a charity drive? We've been reading this:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/08/28/libya.gadhafi.nanny/index.html?iref=NS1

Trigger warning: abuse, torture, child abuse.

...and I think people ought to raise some funds to help Gadhafi's servants so they aren't destitute after all they've been through. I can't find one, though. Does anyone know where to find one or how to start one?

[kisekileia]

I'm curious about that book too, Lonespark. I have family who like it, but they're Sojourners-style evangelicals, whereas I'm significantly further left.

[Lonespark]

Well, I have started reading it, mostly on the strength of the title and the awesome cover art, and so far it has me grinding my teeth and yelling. There have been like three good points, and two of them were made by people Collins quotes. I realize I'm not quite the target audience, but it's disappointing anyway. I am hoping there will be more science and it will therefore get better.

[Lonespark]

Most of my objections boil down to "It's more complicated than that!"

[sarah]

Because I think we need some good news in the world, I thought I'd pass this on:

http://www.good.is/post/people-are-awesome-this-superintendant-took-an-800-000-pay-cut-to-offset-budget-cuts/

[Izzy]

I read it a couple years ago. I liked the "science and faith are compatible, here's why" bits, but I wished that the perspective wasn't so blatantly Christian. But that's pretty much par for the course: for whatever reason, the people who believe more as I do don't tend to write books about the evidence for said beliefs.

[Sixwing]

Woo! Congrats, Literata! \o/

sarah, that reminds me of this:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111963-Nintendo-CEO-Takes-50-Pay-Cut

This is so much better than punishing one's employees or going through layoffs.

[Invisible Neutrino]

Back in the 1980s, when Japan looked to be the world's next biggest economic power, everybody in the USA was scrambling to find out how to imitate the Japanese. Too bad that drive isn't there anymore, since capitalism in Japan has always had a bit more of a human face due to cultural constraints on the idea of ruining a bunch of Christmases for a big huge pot of gold for the CEO (or should I say 30 pieces of silver?).

[MercuryBlue]

But anything that goes against making sure the CEO has a big huge pot of gold is COMMUNIST!

[Ross]

@Invisible Neutrino: That's _especially_ bizarre given that, the way I recall it, the big "panic" over Japan becoming the world's next big economic power was this (incredibly racist) idea that the Japanese were efficiency-obsessed robot-men who would work everyone 100 hours a week, make us all live in little casket-shaped pods, and spend our days doing simple, mindless, repetitive tasks , under orders to meet impossible quotas, or else we'd all be laid off, and any sort of individuality or free thought would be utterly suppressed.

So, um. Yeah.

[MercuryBlue]

*blink* Seriously? We didn't emulate Japan for fear we'd become exactly what we've become?