This week in The Slacktiverse, January 14/15 2012

The Blogaround

Literata's blogging will be on hiatus for the next few weeks because her mother is ill and having surgery. Prayers and good wishes are very welcome.

This week Ana Mardoll posted:
Twilight: Bad Thoughts... Bad People?
I think a lot of the reason why people dislike Bella is because she thinks very negative things about people. And now she has Edward and they can be negative together! But does her persistently negative thoughts make her a bad person/character, or are they meant to be something more cathartic or... what? Come help me decide.

This week Ana Mardoll posted:
Deconstruction: Why Your Well-Intentioned Advice Was Called 'Victim-Blaming'
(Trigger Warning: rape and rape discussion, racism.)
Written in response to the “If I Were A Poor Black Kid” opinion piece in Forbes.

Kit Whitfield continues her deconstructions of famous first sentences. This week: Five Children and It by E. Nesbit, The Collector by John Fowles and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.

Coleslaw reports: I only wrote two posts this week. In anticipation of the movie, I wrote a book review of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I take issue with the author of a blogpost entitled So You Think You Married the Wrong Person.

yamikuronue writes: Last weekend I posted the first of a series of tea reviews, which will go up every weekend. I did two portions of This Present Darkness: a in-depth look at Young's advice on page 74 as well as the weird voodoo on pages 76-81. I also wrote a little musing about words, a post about bodies and sleep (Trigger Warning: body image)), and yet another of my drabblings and musings posts.

Chris the Cynic reports: This week I was planning on writing one post on the Mayan Calendar but ended up writing a series with posts on our calendar and the Long Count, ways one might make a hypothetical calendar, Modular Arithmetic and the Tzolk'in, and the Haab' and the Calendar Round.

Storiteller this week took a critical look at another museum exhibit, this one at the National Archives on the federal government's influence on food, in What's Cooking, Uncle Sam? She also wrote a mini-series on fear and sustainable behavior. In Nothing to Fear But..., she talks about ways to overcome fear when trying new activities like cycling to work and cooking from scratch. In Fear and Loathing in Bicycleland, she describes circumstances that still scare her while cycling (pets! people opening doors!) and some potential fixes.

This week, Jarred discussed some common statements (Trigger Warning: homophobia) people might make while trying to deny accusations of homophobia and why those statements are problematic. He also discussed (Trigger Warning: homophobia) why he found Cardinal's apology for comparing pride parade organizers to the KKK unsatisfactory. He was honored that Pam Hogeweide, whose book on sexism in Christian churches comes out later this month, wrote a guest post as a part of his on-going review of Alisa Harris's book, "Raised Right." (Trigger Warning: Religiously rationalized misogyny). Jarred ended the week by sharing some of his thoughts that were inspired by attending a trans* panel discussion, both on the importance of listening and an inspiring example of what it means to be an ally (Trigger Warning: transphobia, substance abuse, inpatient psychiatric care).

Michael Mock writes: This week over at Mock Ramblings, I added another section to the Right Behind story They Are Legion. I explained how Secondborn tried to get me in trouble, in Amateur Escape Artist At Work. Finally, I responded to a rather long post on someone else's blog, mainly in an attempt to clear up her misconceptions about atheism: The Darkness of Atheism Exposed (Part 1), The Truth of Atheism Told (Part 2). I also attempted to clarify my points of disagreement in a follow-up post: A Final Note For Gerie.

The former conservative blogger reports: This week I wrote about my past and the evolution of my views (College, My Twenties, Why I'm Now Formerly Conservative, Part One), I gave my official presidential candidate endorsement and I wrote about how "beating Obama" has become the goal of Republicans rather than being a good leader.

Last week Ana Mardoll posted:
Twilight: Doctors, Nurses, and Patients
The problem with this scene is that Edward is in his usual position of privilege and the women he is laughing at are marginalized. They can join him in privilege only if they join him in mocking the other marginalized woman. And that’s not humor, so much as it is cruelty.

Last week Ana Mardoll posted:
Deconstruction: No, You Probably Aren't (and other thoughts on the Zombie Apocalypse)
All the reasons why you dreaming about the Zombie Apocalypse doesn’t automatically mean you want me to die horribly.

Last week Ana Mardoll posted:
Narnia: The Resurrection of Aslan
The raison d'etre of "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe", at least as I see it, is the death and resurrection of Aslan. Everything else -- the Pevensie children and their evolution from frightened kids to confident monarchs, the war for the liberation of Narnia, the defeat of the ancient evil that has plagued the land for centuries -- these things are significantly less important than the life, death, and rebirth of Aslan.

In case you missed this

India Reports Completely Drug-Resistant TB (Trigger Warning: Just avoid the comments -- which include racism, anti-science and vicious anti-anti science comments among other things)

From bikyamasr: Saudi moral committee threatens to cover “tempting” women’s eyes.
Women with sexy eyes in Saudi Arabia may be forced to cover them up, according to the spokesperson of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) in the conservative Gulf kingdom.

From The Toronto Star Ottawa to change law so same-sex marriages are valid and open to divorce:
Two divorcing women, their lawyer and the powerful political advocates who supported them, expressed delight with an emphatic promise by the Conservative government that it will rewrite Canada’s marriage law to ensure same-sex marriages are “legally valid” and open to divorce — even if the marriages are not recognized abroad.

In a Friday speech to the Canadian Club in Toronto, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson .....said “our government has no intention of reopening the debate on the definition of marriage.”

Things you can do

Send prayers and good wishes to Literata and Litera's mother.

Lonespark proposes a New England Slacktivite field trip/meetup to go see Red Tails.

When: Um, after the release date, January 20th, as soon as we can figure out the logistics. We could do it to celebrate Imbolc/Disting/Groundhog Day, or we could...not.
Where: Some location reasonably reachable by the majority of the people who want to go. I'm guessing this would be some location in eastern or central MA reachable by a big highway, but it depends who's involved. I'm hoping we can coordinate rideshares and rides for those without cars.

MercuryBlue writes: As reported at The Friendly Atheist (Jessica Ahlquist Has Won Her Lawsuit!), there was an explicitly Christian banner hung in Ms. Ahlquist's public high school, and she sued, and she won, and the banner is coming down. She, being an atheist, is getting the usual plate of shit flying her way (Trigger Warning: rape, violence, death threats); I encourage everyone to donate to her college fund, which can be done via the ChipIn widget on the Friendly Atheist link (requires Paypal).

--Co-authored by the Slacktiverse Community

---

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

Comments

[truth is life]

I hope your mother does well, Literata, and gets well soon!

[Literata]

Thank you, truth is life, and thanks to TBAT for posting that note and to everyone for support. Knowing that people care is the biggest help right now.

[chris the cynic]

Literata, I hope everything gets better soon. I don't actually know Brigid (nothing personal, there are a lot of gods I've never met) but I can and will make general prayers for your mother and you.

[kisekileia]

Literata, are you comfortable with prayers to Fred's, hapax's, and my version of the Christian God on behalf of your mother and yourself?

[Jarred]

@kisekileia: I won't presume to answer for Literata, but I just want to say that I think it's incredibly sweet of you to ask that question.

[storiteller]

If you are comfortable with that, Literata, I'm definitely praying for comfort and love for your family and healing for your mother.

[hapax]

Literata, if it will not make you uncomfortable, I will light a candle for you and your mother.

[Literata]

Yes, thank you for asking kisekileia. I am grateful for any and all prayers for healing. I suggested Brigid on my blog just because, but I am equally thankful any such efforts in your own form of practice. That's why I tried to phrase it as generally as possible. :)

[kisekileia]

Aww, thanks, Jarred. I just figured it was respectful. And you're welcome, Literata.

[Froborr]

Best wishes, Literata, I hope your mother recovers well.

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Not related to this thread per se, but good news: SOPA has been shelved indefinitely, in a major victory for basically everyone who isn't one of the big media companies. Now if we can just take out PIPA as well...

[sarah]

Literata, prayers and good thoughts to your and your mom.