The Slacktiverse

This week in The Slacktiverse, April 16/17 2011

 

The Blogaround

hapax has compiled a preliminary booklist for "M/M romance -- a core collection", complete with librarian geekiness, moderate levels of snark, and sincere fondness for the genre.

Ruby writes: This week at Heathen Critique, Paul Stepola, like his Biblical counterpart, loses his sight, in Soon: Chapter 10: Poor Tick, Poor Jae.

Laiima writes: This week I was actively writing. I have three blog posts addressing that I've passed into cronehood/old age, and exploring various aspects of that (musing on mothers, power, and influence; permission to heal; and women's stories.) I have a feeling this will be an ongoing series.

Twilight: Beautiful People and Hairless Cats
Ana Mardoll writes:

This week we introduce the youngest members of the Cullen family – the only people on earth capable of sending Bella’s self-esteem into a veritable nose-dive. They are beautiful in the extreme, openly disdain the existence of food, and are so aloof that they don’t even talk to each other. Come join us as we try to determine whether or not emotional unavailability equals attractiveness in the Twilight-verse!

This week the former conservative blogger wrote 2 entries mocking the various conspiracy theories invented to discredit President Obama as well as some of the silly things Fox News has decided to get outraged about (really, really this is worthy of outrage and just when I think they can't get more stupid) in addition to another deconstruction of a fundamentalist Christian blog.

This week mmy posted about her memories of the death of her mother.

In case you missed this

Lorien encourages Canadians to read this article (The Conservatives Commitment to Internet Surveillance) about the implications of promises in/elements of the Conservative election platform dealing with access to and security and privacy while using the Internet before going to the polls on election day.

TW for birth trauma and maternal health:

mmy writes: The Washington Post published an article about substandard health care for women Global stillbirths: 2.6 million a year, overlooked and often preventable

 

Things you can do

Kit Whitfield asks blog readers to click on this link to learn about Russians who are being beaten, brutalized and arrested for their efforts to protect and preserve Moscow's last old growth forest.

Froborr will be on three panels at Anime Boston (at the Hynes) which runs from April 21st to 24.

Tengen Toppa Evangelion: Friday, 6 P.M., Panel A. Viga "The Otagal" Gadson and I will be discussing Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Rebuild of Evangelion as essentially a multi-decade conversation about questions of human nature and our place in the universe.

Villains and Virgins: Friday, 8:30 P.M., Panel 107. Viga and I will be discussing the madonna-whore complex in anime, both in terms of character archetypes and fan reactions. (The schedule says "madonna-heathen complex" because they wouldn't allow us to use the word "whore." No, seriously. Apologies to any pagans offended by the use of the term, wasn't my choice.)

Chu-Chu Died for Your Sins: Saturday, 5 P.M., Panel 206. Charles Dunbar, the Anime Anthropologist, and I will be discussing religious and philosophical themes in Xenogears and Xenosaga, mostly gnosticism, qabalah, and Nietzsche.

Frobor writes: Most of that time I will be at Anime Boston at the Hynes. If you're in Boston and want to meet up, e-mail me at froborr SPLAT gmail.com. I can easily do lunch one of the three days as long as it's within walking distance from the Hynes. Otherwise, I'll be around the con most of the time. I'll be the short, overweight guy with the pony tail. No, not that one, the other one. No, the other one. No, not that one either. (I'll be the one whose badge says Froborr.)

 

 

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

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



This week in The Slacktiverse, April 10 2011

This week's Blogaround:

Ana Mardoll continues her analysis/deconstruction of the Twilight series with a new post this week:

Twilight: Bad Books make Good Movies
As Bella struggles to describe her new classmates and their conversations, the reader is left with the problem of deciding whether Bella’s words and descriptions are meant to be taken definitively or connotatively – and whether or not Bella understands the difference. Come help us determine the exact meaning of “overly helpful” and whether or not the very concept is an oxymoron!

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Sarah posted posted the second part of her "what I think about when I think about faith," which deals with her college years and her transition from evangelical to Catholic.
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Sharon Autenrieth put up a post at her blog called "The Rat That Roared: Terry Jones". Sharon discusses the power the internet gives to otherwise insignificant people to amplify their voices and influence, comparing Terry Jones specifically to Yertle the Turtle.
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The poster who now blogs as "the former conservative" published a number of posts this past week: a recommendation of a blog and podcast (someone actually doing something good); three deconstructions of blogs written by fundamentalism women (totally missing the point, more hatefulness, because a woman is basically a walking baby machine); and continued his deconstruction of The Savage Nation.
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This week, Literata participated in a lobbying effort to protect women's access to affordable health care, including the right to reproductive choices that include abortion. In addition to her overview, she wrote about the spiritual aspects of her efforts and the strength that can be found in weakness, the practical details of what lobbying was like, and some lessons she learned about being interviewed.
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This week Kit Whitfield published a new post, Unbearable art, a defence of The Devils. This 1971 Ken Russell film about blasphemy and power is still a subject of controversy and has yet to be officially issued as a DVD. __________

This week at Heathen Critique, Ruby continued the dissection of Soon. In Chapter 9: St. Stephen, Paul finds a Christian martyr.

This week's In case you missed this

Timothy (TRiG) writes: In Mississippi, Only 40% of Republicans Approve of Interracial Marriage. However some people do change their minds. Louis Marinelli, bus-driver for NOM, now approves of same-sex civil marriage (unintended side effects, I now support equality, nom damage control)

 

This week's Things you can do

Commenter Samantha C. writes:

A friend of mine, Randy Pierce, is getting a team together for a walk-a-thon to support the New Hampshire Association for the Blind, an organization that helped him tremendously when he lost his own sight several years ago. I'm walking with them and trying to raise some funds. The main team page is here; anyone can donate to the General Team Donation page. Since Randy's personal foundation is called 20/20 Vision Quest, a lot of people are donating $20.20, or variations thereon. Any donations would be greatly appreciated.

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Sarah writes: The National Religious Campaign Against Torture has a petition out to get the US to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT). Info is here.
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Alien Booknose writes: USUncut.org are planning nationwide actions for tax day to protest cuts in government programs while major corporations evade taxes.
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Kit Whitfield writes: Avaaz.org has posted the following statement: Wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning is being subjected to brutal torture in a US military prison, part of a broader effort to silence and intimidate those behind any further leaks. The government is split on Manning's abuse. President Obama cares about the US global reputation -- a massive global outcry can push him to stop the torture: sign the petition here.
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Timothy (TRiG) urges fellow denizens of The Slacktiverse to sign this petition:
It would appear that the position of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is that the appropriate penalty for overstaying a visa is a death sentence. I disagree. More detailed information about Joseph Sekajugo Bukombe, a gay man facing deportation from the United States to Uganda, can be found at the Box Turtle Bulletin.

 

 

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

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



This week in The Slacktiverse, April 3 2011

 

This week's Blogaround:

This week, Ruby continued her dissection of Soon, Jerry Jenkins' novel set in a post-World War III world in which all religion has been outlawed.  In Chapter 8: TEXAS!!! and Chapter 8: Roughnecks, anti-hero Paul Stepola, an atheist religion expert in the National Peace Organization, investigates a "miraculous" pillar of fire in an oil field.

 

During the past week, hapax posted her regular quickie book reviews and an effort to tie her visceral dislike of April Fools' pranks to broader observations about What's Wrong With Society These Days.

 

Mike Timonin blogged about fasting as a form of political action in his post Fasting, further notes.

 

Ana Mardoll continued her analysis/deconstruction of the Twilight series with a new post this week:

Twilight: Cheating with Vampires

Can anything be worse for intrepid protagonist Bella as she considers with horror the looming specter of having to repeat the same material as last year in her new high school literature class? Quite possibly so, since the series seems to be heading towards the eventuality of having to repeat high school forty or fifty times over as part of her plans for immortality.

 

Laima/Laiima blogged about having an "active month of Aries" for the first time in several years and what that means for her as a writer in her new post aries unfettered.

 

TW: Discussion of religious emotional abuse.

Sarah posted the first in a planned series of ruminations about her faith and the way it's changed over the years. The initial post, what I think about when I think about faith, part one, is mostly about her teenage years and the church her family went to when she was in high school. It's especially about the emphasis on emotions in the evangelical culture she was a part of and how they were used to manipulate people.

 

The poster who now blogs as "the former conservative" published a number of posts this past week: the late article about a gamer who doesn't want games that cater to gays or women; and two deconstructions car wreck reading and the car wreck isn't over of a fundamentalist Christian blog.

Jarred wrote a handful of blog posts to celebrate his coming out anniversary. He starts out by describing the night he came out In a Small Alcove at Susquehanna University Then he explores some of the events that led up to that night as he reviews The Path Left Behind. Then he explores the timing of coming out in Coming Out Considerations

This week's In case you missed this

EduSolidarity:

In light of the pushback against teachers unions in specific and collective bargaining in general going on in this country, last week a bunch of teachers came together to write about why they support unions. Over a hundred teachers wrote and its worth reading at least a few of their articles just because they have so many different perspectives on the values of and issues with unions.

 

   

Jarred encourages fellow denizens of The Slacktiverse to check out the blogs of Marisa:

Marisa is a former multiple (as in multiple personalities, also known as Dissociative Identity Disorder). She is currently going through the process of republishing all her old online diary entries from when she was learning to manager her multiplicity and first starting the healing journey related to the abuses that caused it. Her writing is raw and honest (and potentially triggering), and well worth reading. I'm personally enjoying it, because she's currently posting her entries from the years prior to when she and I met (she started her first online diary in 1994, and she and I first crossed paths on another online diary site in 2002, give or take a year.) By the time I met her, she had already progressed var in her journey, so getting a clearer picture of her "starting point" has been incredibly illuminating for me. For those particularly interested, Marisa also has a current blog where she talks about her life as it is today and will provide further "looking back" commentary on posts at The Crew.

This week's Things you can do

     

The community at hungerfast.org

is organized a campaign of fasting and prayer to protest (American) budget cuts which will make life even more difficult for the most vulnerable among us.

 

TW: Rape, sexual violence, torture.

Last Saturday, a young woman lawyer named Iman al-Obeidi burst into a Tripoli hotel and pleaded with foreign journalists for help, showing bruises and crying that she had just been gang-raped by 15 of Qaddafi's men. She screamed as she was dragged away by Libyan agents and has not been seen since......Qaddafi will ignore most international outrage, but he listened to the Turkish government when they asked him to release foreign journalists. Let's urgently raise a massive global call to Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to help save Iman. [Avaaz.com]

Click here to sign the petition that will be sent to the Turkish government.

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



http://agirlcalledraven.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-i-think-about-when-i-think-about.html

This week in The Slacktiverse, March 27 2011

The community voted for a "new content" schedule of M/W/F. TBAT will try to limit any "board business" to posts on Tuesday and Thursday. It is likely that in the future there will be weeks with no "board business" posts at all.

The weekend post will neither be content nor "about the board." Instead we hope to use a regular weekend post to allow members of the community (readers, commentators and writers alike) to communicate important information to other members of the community.

Each weekend post will have three sections; The blogaround, In case you missed it, and Things you can do.

 

The Blogaround

Any denizen of the Slacktiverse who has posted an article to their own website during since the previous weekend post is invited to send a short summary of that article along with its permalink to TBAT. That summary and link will be included in the next weekend blogaround. This will help to keep members of our community aware of the many excellent websites hosters by other members.

 

This week's Blogaround:

This week, Literata wrote a three-part series that takes Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog as a starting point for examining ethics, health care, social policy, and compassion fatigue, especially in light of a new study which reveals startling disparities in the diabetes rate on a county-by-county basis:

Act I: Dr. Horrible

Act II: The Diabetes Belt is for Superheroes!

Act III: Paging Nurse Empathy

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Ana Mardoll added a new post to her on going deconstruction of the first Twilight book.

What’s a small town school to do when presented with a newly enrolled and hopelessly lost big city girl? Why, direct her to the pre-printed stack of school maps and hope for the best, of course! In this week’s Twilight, Unisex Raincoats and White Bread, read along as a nervous Bella Swan attempts to calm her fears by comparing her “translucent” white skin to the “porcelain” white skin of her classmates, and insisting to her new friends that her mother is “part albino”.

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 Ruby took a short break from Soon to review another Christian youth film.  Second Glance is an homage to It's a Wonderful Life, in which high school student Dan fears that he is too much of a nice guy, and is missing out on all the fun.  So, he wishes he had never been a Christian.  God grants his wish, and in Part 3 of her review, [Second Glance: Part 3] Ruby and her heathen brother Angus learn that nonbelievers cheat on their girlfriends, drive teachers to leave their jobs, and throw really tame parties.

Readers who missed the first two reviews can first catch up by reading Second Glance: Part 1 and Second Glance: Part 2.

 

In Case You Missed This

Readers of The Slacktiverse can send short summaries of, and permalinks to, articles that they feel might be of interest to other readers.

    

    

This week's In case you missed this

 

TW: violence, sexual violence, rape culture, racism, classism

Roxane Gay's article The Careless Language of Sexual Violence is especially interesting given the responses among our commentators to a New York Times article about the gang rape of a female child. Gay writes:

[w]e live in a strange and terrible time for women. There are days, like today, where I think it has always been a strange and terrible time to be a woman. It is nothing less than horrifying to realize we live in a culture where the “paper of record” can write an article that comes off as sympathetic to eighteen rapists while encouraging victim blaming.

EduSolidarity:

In light of the pushback against teachers unions in specific and collective bargaining in general going on in this country, last week a bunch of teachers came together to write about why they support unions. Over a hundred teachers wrote and its worth reading at least a few of their articles just because they have so many different perspectives on the values of and issues with unions.

     

Things You Can Do

Anyone who knows of a worthy cause or important petition should send a short description of the petition/cause along with its url to TBAT.

 

   

This week's Things you can do

     

TW: violence, sexual violence, rape culture, racism, classism

‘Corrective rape’, the vicious practice ofraping lesbians to ‘cure’ their sexuality, is becoming a crisis in South Africa. Activists on the ground are risking their lives to stop this brutal crime and have got the government's attention. Let's support them -- a global outcry now could force the government to take concrete and urgent action.  Sign the petition and send it to friends!

    

   

Apple's ethical policy has been much discussed recently especially in light of several gay unfriendly apps. There is also a petition asking them to ensure conflict-free goods.

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Since denizens of The Slacktiverse have not had a chance to send in links throughout the last week TBAT will be happy (this time only!) to add additional links to this post if they are sent to us before Tuesday noon GMT.