This blogaround is brought to you by Shaxco, zeppelin inspectors and makers of vulcanized goggle sealant.
Lots and lots on the torture memos at Hullabaloo.
Afghan Government to change marital rape law.
Texas Shakers: Ukulele Festival!
Now, this is pure breakfast satisfaction.
Grimace:1, Child: 0.
In a nutshell.
Leave your links in comments!
Friday Blogaround
Teenz Korner: Don't Tea-Bag THESE Teens!
[Trigger warning.]
Hey, assholes! It's Dr. Kenny Blogginz, and I'm here with another one of my Peabody Award winning Teenz Korners. This week, I interviewed some local teens about the recent "tea-bagging" phenomenon that has been taking America by storm. For those of you that don't know shit, Tea Bagging is a grass-roots movement of heroic men and women who have decided to say "enough is enough" to the dastardly President Obama and his tax hikes, which punish the wealthy in a move that most reasonable people are labeling "socialism." As I'm writing this piece, the number of participants in the tea bagging movement has surpassed 100 billion.
There are flip-sides to every tea-bag, however, and the teen that I interviewed seemed to be particularly distressed by the moral bankruptcy which pervaded the grass-roots movement. I met up with the president of the non-profit organization Teens Against Tea-Bagging, Cody Jakes, at the local Applebee's Bar and Grill.
K-Blogz: Good evening, sir, and thank you for sitting down with me for this important interview.
C-Jakes: 'Sup.
K-Blogz: Why don't you tell me a little bit about why you are so strongly opposed to tea-bagging?
C-Jakes: Well, Kenny, Teens Against Tea-Bagging is actually a coalition of teen abstinence groups in the tri-county area. We have banded together to try to preserve the true spirit of Christian abstinence, even as our parents are out in Washington as we speak, protesting for a lewd sexual act that many of us were not even aware of until now. The actions of our parents and role-models have shattered our innocence.
K-Blogz: Wait a minute…I don't think we're actually talking about the same…ah, fuck it. What do you plan to do to help these dirty tea-baggers to see the error of their ways?
C-Jakes: Teens Against Tea-Bagging has several protests against tea-bagging planned. For instance, there's the Rusty Trombone System, where members of my organization will basically play rusty or broken trombones around groups of people who are tea-bagging. The cacophony will theoretically drive them away from our parks and monuments. Secondly, there's the Rim Job, which is where we basically try to get tea-baggers interested in high-end rims for their cars, which will distract them from the devilish pleasures derived from tea-bagging. Finally, we come to the pièce de résistance, which is of course the Missionary Position. This plan consists of sending some of our highest ranking missionaries right into the thick of the tea-bagging, to read scriptures and pray fiercely for the well-being of the souls of these devious tea-baggers. In computer simulations, this plan has resulted in widespread conversion of tea-baggers to the Lord's way. It's our last resort, however, because it may also result in a premature rapture. Which would be totally awesome, except that Vatican mages have yet to locate the Krom-darr gemstone, which obviously has to be offered to the head Horseman of the Apocalypse for safe passage into the kingdom of Heaven.
K-Blogz: Cody, those sound like some really effective plans. I can't wait to find out whether they work or not.
C-Jakes: Be careful out there, Kenny. You're a great man, I can tell, and I'd hate to see you seduced by the tea-baggers.
Waiter: Did anybody order chocolate pizza poppers?
C-Jakes, K-Blogz: Yaaaaaaay!!!
Shaker Gourmet: Ginger Crunch
The recipe this week comes from Shaker bekitty! She noted that "it's a traditional New Zealand favourite."
If you have a Whole Foods nearby, I've found golden syrup there in the past!Ginger Crunch Recipe (Adapted from "Ladies, a Plate" by Alexa Johnston, Penguin 2008)
Ingredients:
For the Base:
4oz (115g) sugar
7oz (200g) flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp baking powder
4oz (115g) butter
For the Icing:
2oz (55g) butter
1 tbsp golden syrup (sugar cane syrup - light molasses would also work here)
2 tsp ground ginger
2 oz (55g) icing (powdered) sugar
Preheat the oven to 350F/180C and line a shallow 12 x 8 in / 30 x 21 cm tin with baking paper, or grease it lightly.
Mixing and Baking:
1.) Put the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, and mix them together. then rub in the butter until the mixture forms fine crumbs.
2.) Pour the crumbs into the prepared tin, spread them out evenly, and press down firmly with your fingers to compact them slightly. They will stick together properly as they bake.
3.) Bake for 20-25 minutes until the mixture is a pale golden brown.
Finishing:
1.) While the base is coooking, put the butter, golden syrup and ginger into a saucepan and heat gently, stirring. When they are melted and combined, tip in the sifted icing sugar and mix to a fairly runny consistency.
2.) Remove the base from the oven and immediately pour on the icing, spreading it evenly over the surface with a spatula.
3.) Cut the mixture into fingers and leave to cool, then break it apart along the cuts and store airtight. Makes about 32 fingers.
If you'd like to participate in Shaker Gourmet, email me at: shakergourmet (at) gmail.com
In Future Limbaugh Bootlickers
Someone hasn't gotten the memo:
U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt of Kansas is a feisty and ardent conservative. But he said something Tuesday that might irritate Rush Limbaugh's ditto-head followers.Paging Phil Gingrey, Mark Sanford, and Michael Steele: Someone get this guy the new playbook.
Tiahrt was asked by a Kansas City Star Editorial Board member whether Limbaugh was now the de facto leader of the GOP.
"No, no, he's just an entertainer," Tiahrt said.
Important Announcement
My hat rulez.
I am a hat fancier. Although my shoez own my soul, my cloche hats are the mistresses of my heart—and, because I work at home, I frequently wear them around the house, just because I love them so. I have a perfectly spherical head and a roundy face, so I suit hats and can wear just about any style, though I have a particular preference for cloche hats.
Not long ago, I got a secondhand copy of Teach Yourself Visually: Crocheting, and, if I ever get around to teaching myself visually to crochet (which I suppose would start with actually buying a crocheting needle and some yarn), I am going to spend my every free moment for the rest of my days crocheting myself an enviable array of cloches.
And the occasional turtleneck sweater for Iain, because he looks devastatingly foxy in them.
Number of the Day
107. The number of ads run by Fox News between April 6th and April 15th, promoting their coverage of the "spontaneous, grassroots" tea parties.
You Go Grrl: Deb Davis
Deb Davis has been a truck driver for Frito Lay for 34 years, a career which she calls "a dream come true," noting that "her late mother only dreamed of being a truck driver herself, and was thrilled when her daughter had the opportunity to take the road." Davis is one of only two female drivers in Frity-Lay's 88-driver plant in Beloit, and recently reached an incredible milestone in her career:
She was recently honored for having driven 2 million miles without an accident, roughly the equivalent of nine round trips from Earth to the moon.
It’s a rare accomplishment for any over-the-road driver, but especially for a woman in an industry that is only 12 to 15 percent female. Davis' co-workers, however, aren't surprised with her performance.
"She's extremely professional, and she's just so much fun to be around," said Linda Burns, traffic manager for Frito-Lay.
…She never let being a woman get in her way, and luckily most of the men didn't give her any problems about it.
When she first started out in Iowa, for example, she couldn't get her truck doors open. She went to a gas station filled with men, a little nervous to ask for help. But she said the guys opened the doors without teasing her much.
…She doesn't mind lending fellow drivers a hand either. One snowy Thanksgiving weekend she ran into a carload of stranded girls. After she called a tow truck for them and sent them on their way, she was later commended by the girl's mother, who sent a thank-you note to Frito-Lay.
There's an NPR broadcast about Davis available here. Thanks to Shaker Jessica for passing that along.
Yay, Maryland!
This is very cool:
Maryland would become the first state to list the homeless as a class protected from hate crimes under legislation that is headed to Gov. Martin O'Malley's desk.The homeless are one of the most disproportionately targeted groups for violent crime: There is a significant LGBTQI homeless youth population in America who are at high risk for assault, homeless women are at elevated risk of sexual assault, and homeless people of any demographic are frequently subject to extreme violence like being set on fire, merely because they are incredibly vulnerable. This bill is not only groundbreaking but desperately needed.
The groundbreaking measure, championed by one of the legislature's most conservative Republicans, was approved in the House of Delegates four minutes before the General Assembly adjourned at midnight Monday. O'Malley (D) is reviewing the bill, which also adds penalties for violent crimes against people targeted because of their gender or disability.
Advocates called the law a symbolic and practical victory in the absence of similar protections in federal law and spoke of the often vicious crimes against the homeless.
If you're perplexed by the idea that a conservative Republican, someone who would generally consider any hate crimes legislation anathema to his political ideology, championed this bill, well, no one's more surprised than that conservative Republican himself:
Sen. Alex X. Mooney (R-Frederick) says his first attempt to pass the bill, four years ago, was motivated by cynicism: He was offended by legislation adding sexual orientation to the list of protected categories, which also covers race, religion and national origin.Imagine that.
He proposed no fewer than 10 failed amendments to that bill, trying to add civil rights leaders, doctors, lawyers, veterans, nurses and others to homosexuals and offending many of his Democratic colleagues.
"I said, 'If we're going to open up this bottle, let's consider lots of other groups that don't have powerful lobbies in Annapolis,' " he said.
He was criticized for advocating for a group whose interests many believed he didn't take seriously.
"They weren't sure if he was doing it to score rhetorical points or because he believed in this issue," said Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery), the Judiciary Committee chairman.
Mooney is one of the Senate's staunchest opponents of gay rights, abortion, illegal immigration and government intrusion in private lives.
He said he started taking the homeless issue to heart after he watched a television clip in which a group of homeless people was beaten to death with baseball bats. "I realized homeless people are vulnerable people," Mooney said.
[H/T to Shaker Siobhan.]
Irony Is Not Dead
DHS report (pdf) makes clear that we need to watch the lunatic fringe of the right.
Pat Robertson takes offense a la Malkin and sends listeners to crash the DHS phones.
Fucking idiots, the lot of them.
The Real Deal: Season One
by Shaker Seraph, a shameless geek who's getting through the bad times in New York City by doing temp work, playing Dungeons & Dragons, watching lots of movies, and splitting rent with an amiable soon-to-be-ex.
[Part One; Part Two.]
So anyway, to pick up where we left off: Our Heroes have set off on their quest, with Our Villains right on their heels. Before we start off after them, I'd like to admit up front that this season talks the talk much better than it walks the walk. Katara holds her own quite well, but she's the only female Regular. Sure, some strong and vivid women make appearances (I'll get to them), but Aang, Sokka, Zuko and Iroh are there every damn episode.
Now. For some highlights of the trip that are particularly interesting for our purposes, in order of occurrence. Beware, spoilers abound…
Boy in the Iceberg – Three things I noticed upon re-watching that I forgot to mention in my introductory review:
1) Sokka, as the closest thing to a man and warrior in the village, is genuinely in charge, even to the point of banishing unwanted visitors on his own authority. Theoretically, Gran-Gran could veto his edicts, but she chooses to support his authority.
2) Katara and Aang go sledding together, and Katara glees: "I haven't done this since I was a kid!" Aang's reply: "You still are a kid!" He's wrong. In his time, she would have been a kid. But the world's at war, her mother is dead, and she hasn't been a kid for a long time. If you blink, you'll miss it, and if you think about it too much it'll break your heart.
3) We see a scene where Sokka and Zuko are both preparing for battle, creating a clear parallel between the two – another point where the idea of a "bad guy" nation is undermined. Both look faintly awkward in their battle dress – it's absurd that these teenage boys are at war, especially with each other – but it's still deadly serious. Sokka's spear and boomerang aren't toys, and Zuko's fire isn't a harmless lightshow.
The Southern Air Temple – Aang visits the place that used to be his home. The fact that it's an empty ruin is the first thing to really bring it home to him that the world has changed. When he discovers the skeleton of his adoptive father figure surrounded by the skeletons of Fire Nation soldiers, an important aspect of his relationship with Katara is established.
You see, when an Avatar needs an extra power boost, they can enter the Avatar State. This is a state wherein they can tap into the power of all of their previous incarnations. An experienced, fully-trained Avatar (i.e. not Aang) can enter it at will, though they tend to do so sparingly, while someone like Aang enters it involuntarily when they're seriously endangered or deeply upset – as one might become, for example, upon finding the corpse of one's murdered father.
Now, it was established in the first episode that Katara's relationship with Aang is going to be at least partially motherly – as is her relationship with just about everyone since she took that role on herself when her mother died (whereas Aang is one of the few people who can get her to open up, have fun and be a kid again) – but it's at this point we learn that Katara is pretty much the only person in the world who can get through to Aang and calm him down when he's in the Avatar State.
"A woman acting as the emotional anchor, calming the hero down when he gets all upset? A man teaching an uptight woman how to loosen up and have fun? Woo hoo, extra hoo!" I hear you say. And you're not wrong to say it. Still, it's a bit more impressive when the man is bringing joy to a victim of a world war and the woman in question walks through a berserk demigod's personal tornado to deliver that cooldown hug (though in this case she actually talks him down – she knows what it feels like to lose a parent, after all). It's all about context.
The Warriors of Kyoshi – This is one of the two episodes where the series confronts sexism directly, rather than simply proving it wrong by example. We open with Our Heroes riding along on Appa, just killing time as they fly over featureless ocean. Katara is mending Sokka's pants while Aang does what he's going to spend the rest of the episode doing: trying to impress Katara. Sokka tells Aang to leave Katara alone: girls need to concentrate when they're sewing. Katara demands to know what her being a girl has to do with sewing, and Sokka – missing the warning signs – explains that certain people are better at certain things: girls are better at sewing, while men are better at fighting and hunting. Katara responds by saying "You're right! Look what a good job I did!" and throwing his half-mended pants back in his face.
They stop at the Earth Kingdom island of Kyoshi because Aang wants to (show off for Katara) ride their famous Elephant Koi. Yes, these are forty-foot-long koi. Just go with it. Unfortunately, the bay where he found the elephant koi also contains the Unagi, whose name must mean "Sea Serpent Big Enough to Make a Friggin' Blue Whale Piss Its Knickers." Aang's surfboard becomes lunch, and he just barely escapes the same fate. Our Heroes have just decided that the giant sea monster is a good reason to leave when they're attacked and captured by the titular Kyoshi Warriors – much to Sokka's disgust when their blindfolds are removed and it turns out the Warriors are all teenage girls.
The Gaang is accused of being Fire Nation spies, but Aang is able to prove their innocence by proving himself to be the Avatar. This has even more of an impact on Kyoshi than it might have elsewhere, as the island was created by, lived on, and named for Avatar Kyoshi, the second-to-last Avatar before Aang.
Aang becomes an instant celebrity, which of course goes instantly to his head. He spends the rest of the episode milking this, trying to either impress Katara or make her jealous. He may have some success at the latter, but it could just be annoyance. She even has to rescue him from the Unagi when one of his stunts goes awry. In the end, of course, it's when he does something selfless that she's finally impressed.
While all this is going on, Sokka is learning more about women than he has in his whole life prior to this, and getting the sexism knocked out of him in the process.
Still nursing his wounded pride, he goes to the Warriors' dojo, apologizes for interrupting their "dance class," and asks where a man can go to get a workout around here. The leader of the Warriors, Suki (you'll learn to love Suki. Quickly.) tells him this is the place, and apologizes for attacking companions of the Avatar. Quite all right, Sokka tells her – they're just lucky he didn't mistake them for an actual threat. Like men.
Suki adds the part that even he isn't jackass enough to speak aloud – of course they're lucky, they wouldn't have stood a chance against a big, strong man like Sokka (of course he agrees) – then asks him to teach them some moves. He doesn't take the sparring match seriously at first, but even when he does, it doesn't help. He ends up on the floor, hogtied in a manner that both we and the Warriors find extremely amusing.
Some time later he comes back, having had time to ponder his humiliation. He confronts a (noticeably less patient) Suki again, and…gets down on his knees, apologizes, and begs her to teach him.
She agrees, on the grounds that he follow their traditions…all of their traditions. He whines a little about the battle-dress and face paint, but he feels better about it when she points out that they're actually a military uniform and warpaint (still wilts a little when Aang pops in and says "nice dress," though). She spends the rest of the episode giving him one-on-one – no doubt remedial – lessons, and he learns quickly. It must've been a bonding experience, because that's my best explanation of the last scene.
Zuko is attacking Kyoshi (imagine that – he found them in a place that's announcing to the world that the Avatar is there), and the Gaang decides to flee. Not because they're losing the fight, but because the fight itself is burning the village down. Before they leave, Sokka apologizes to Suki for treating her like a girl, instead of a warrior. Suki agrees that she's a warrior…but she's also a girl. She kisses him, then runs off into battle.
And to his credit, Sokka never has a problem making a connection between the two again.
The King of Omashu – For those of you who have a particular concern about ageism. Let's just say that elemental bending must be very good for the health.
Imprisoned – Ever seen or read a story where the hero sees a bad situation and just has to interfere, because hey: they're the hero, it's in their nature? And the interference only makes matters worse at first, so the Hero gets more deeply involved trying to fix their fuckup, a few Inspiring SpeechesTM are made, but mostly ignored until one – just one – person finally Believes, and that makes all the difference? Of course you have. Well, Katara gets one of those here. Not Aang, Katara. It won't be the last time, either.
An important note: the reason the earthbenders are helpless on the Fire Nation prison ship is because it's made of metal. Earthbenders can do nothing with metal. Remember that; it's important later.
Also, I'd like to introduce Ms. Random Background Female P.O.W. Fighting For Her Freedom. I think you'll like each other.
Avatar Roku (Winter Solstice Part 2) – Not much to look at here through a political lens. Aang meets his spirit-mentor, Avatar Roku, who warns him that Sozin's Comet (the comet that enhanced the firebenders' powers and allowed them cause so much damage with their first strike 100 years ago) will be returning by the end of summer. That'll be important later.
The Waterbending Scroll – And this week, it's finally Katara's turn to be the asshole. Had to happen, if the characters are supposed to be humans. Personally, I like how even Katara's turn as asshole was handled in a non-stereotypical way. It's not about jealousy over a guy or rivalry with the head cheerleader. No, for Katara, it's all about her desperation to learn her superpowered martial art.
We open with Aang freaking out. He has to learn all four elements – a task that usually takes years – by the end of the summer. To calm him down, Katara offers to teach him what she can about waterbending, an offer he eagerly accepts. Five minutes later, he knows everything she does, better than she knows it. Now, he's the Avatar and he's already mastered a sympathetic element, so perhaps Katara should have expected this, but I still can't blame her for being annoyed.
Not long after, the Gaang is shopping in town, and they come upon a pirate ship selling their stolen goods on the wharfside – stolen goods which include a rare, genuine scroll of waterbending forms. Unfortunately, Our Heroes don't have the two hundred gold pieces required to purchase it…which is how they end up fleeing town, pirates hot on their heels, with the scroll in Katara's pocket. Sokka is not amused.
When they get back to camp, Katara immediately wants to try the simplest of the forms: the single water whip. Once she's done that, she promises, she'll help Aang learn the various forms on the scroll. After all, that's why she stole it, so the Avatar could learn waterbending, yep yep yep! That's the ticket. She has trouble getting it, so Aang steps forward, shows her how it's done, and makes some suggestions.
Mistake.
Katara finally snaps and gives Aang a rather long and quite nasty dressing-down that essentially translates to: "Waterbending is part of my identity and I work really hard at it, but I still can't get this. How dare you show up here and do it so effortlessly?"
As soon as the words leave her mouth, she's sorry for them, and she promptly overcompensates by giving the scroll to Aang and swearing that it's all his now, she wants no part of it.
Yeah. That's gonna last.
Once the boys are asleep, she takes the scroll and sneaks to the riverside, determined to get the water whip right. Unfortunately, the splashing and shouts of frustration catch the attention of the pirates, who are still following them, as well as Prince Zuko, who has teamed up with the pirates.
The rest can be summed up in these lines:Katara: "This is all my fault."
They escape, of course, and even get to keep the scroll. No Disney-esque finger-shaking about how Stealing Is Always Bad (in fact, the lesson learned is: "Stealing is bad…unless it's from pirates.").
Aang: "No, Katara. It's not your fault."
Iroh: "Actually, it kind of is."
You know, if they keep giving these episodes where Katara shows traditional Hero flaws, which result in the sort of complications that only heroes usually have to deal with, which are overcome with a combination of cleverness, kickassery and teamwork, we might actually start to think the writers take Katara seriously as a hero in her own right, rather than as the traditional girly sidekick/rescue subject.
Jet – Katara's first crush. Too bad he turns out to be a terrorist. There's three things I really appreciate about this episode: 1) Sokka is arrogantly wrong often enough to make the idea that he's wrong again plausible (although of course he's vindicated in the end); 2) Jet is charming, charismatic, and always knows the right thing to say. Extremely convincing – to someone who wasn't there to see him in action; and 3) Aang got foxed just as completely as Katara. Add it up, and it just means Our Heroes gave their trust to the wrong person because they had every reason to believe he was a hero himself. Leave them out, and this story becomes like too many others like it, where Katara's silly little lady-brain is too overwhelmed by her foolish emotions to see the obvious truth.
The Great Divide – Widely agreed to be the worst episode in the series and largely ignored by fans and writers alike, there are only two interesting things in this episode: 1) We finally see Aang, in his role as the Avatar, acting as a negotiator and peacemaker. We'd only heard about it before. 2) The leader of one of the Earth Kingdom tribes is a woman. No sign of a male co-leader. No one thinks this is unusual. Even more interesting, she's the leader of the "Slob" tribe (the rival tribe consists of extreme neat-freaks).
And what's this? Why, hello Random Tribeswomen Defending Yourselves and Your Tribespeople from Monsters! I met your cousins back in Imprisoned.
The Blue Spirit – Sokka and Katara fall ill in this episode, and Aang has to seek out an herbalist (a somewhat dotty older woman) for help. He's captured by Zhao, and needs to be rescued by Zuko (who will never return from his exile if he isn't the one to capture the Avatar). Aang takes the (very brief) opportunity to talk to Zuko about his Fire Nation friend from 100 years ago, Kuzon. Zuko is violently disinterested, but we get yet another reminder that the Fire Nation isn't evil by nature.
While he has Aang prisoner, Zhao gives a victory speech to his assembled troops, whom he addresses as "the sons and daughters of Fire." Until that point, I'd assumed that the bulky armor and face-concealing masks hid only men, but that drove the point home – once again, by simple example, without fanfare – that it was just that: my assumption. Apparently the Fire Nation sees no reason to keep someone who can shoot fire out of her fingertips out of combat just because she has a uterus.
The Fortuneteller – Katara gets to be the goofball this week. Our Heroes come across a Random Peasant being attacked by a platypus bear (yes, platypus bear. Just go with it. You will also meet turtle-seals, turtle-ducks, rabbaroos, tigerdillos…it's a running gag.) who's ducking and dodging paw-swipes without the slightest sign of concern (thus making himself the most awesome Random Peasant in the history of the world). You see, "Auntie Wu" told him that his journey today would be safe, so obviously, this platypus bear won't hurt him! And it doesn't.
He takes the Gaang to his village, which is apparently ruled by "Auntie Wu" – the titular fortuneteller. Now, Auntie Wu is a good person, a good leader, and even a good fortuneteller (many of her prophecies create the conditions for their own fulfillment, Matrix Oracle-style, like the confident peasant in the woods who ducked and dodged instead of panicked and ran; still, her reading with Aang reveals genuine magical ability). None of that is the problem. The problem is that everyone is totally dependent on her counsel, ignoring anything that contradicts her predictions.
Katara quickly joins them in this, to the point of asking Auntie Wu what she should have for breakfast ("Aw, but I don't like mangoes."). This problem becomes much more serious when the villagers (though not, to her credit, Katara) ignore the signs of a volcanic eruption because Auntie Wu predicted they would be safe from volcanic eruption this year. Which they are, once they organize and dig trenches around the village to divert the lava.
Oh, hey! Glad to meet you, Random Peasant Women Defending Your Homes! I think I've met some of your relatives!
Bato of the Water Tribe – It's Aang's turn to be the jerk this week, but that's not what we're worried about here. Our interest is in the title character, who Our Heroes find at an Earth Kingdom abbey, recovering from a serious wound. The reason we're interested is because he seems to be evidence that grown men among the Southern Water Tribe aren't quite as chauvinistic – or at least not quite as jerkass about it – as an anxious adolescent like Sokka.
Bato is Sokka and Katara's father's best friend (incidentally, I believe this is when we learn that Dad's given name is Hakoda), and upon seeing them he realizes that Sokka is well past due for the rite of passage known as "Ice Dodging," a test of courage and sailing skill. They're too far north for ice floes, but they're able to improvise something suitable with a section of shoreline that has jagged rocks and tricky currents, and Bato doesn't think twice about giving Katara a key role in her brother's ritual.
On the other hand, we hear nothing about Katara getting her turn at the helm in a few years, nor do we hear anything to suggest that everyone involved in an Ice Dodging rite has made the rite of passage to the same degree. Is Ice Dodging a general rite of passage, or is it a Rite of Manhood? If so, does the Southern Water Tribe have a Rite of Womanhood? I'm not sure I want to know, as I'm terribly afraid it might involve an igloo version of a Red Tent.
Oh, and there's a flashback where Dad tells Sokka "Being a man is knowing where you're needed the most, and for you right now, that's here, protecting your sister." Telling a sad boy being left behind by his father what he needs to hear (with a genuinely important lesson involved), or patriarchal Water Tribe belief that a (admittedly untrained) martial artist/magic user needs protection from an ordinary boy a mere two years her senior?
There's a second plot to this episode, but it's one where I'm afraid neither the writers nor the characters do very well for themselves, at least not by our standards. After catching a chance look at her in action, Zuko and Iroh hire the (fan favorite) bounty hunter June to help them hunt down the Avatar.
Now, I'm sure that, if asked, the creators could come up with some kind of handwave about how all that Baroness-style black leather that June is sporting is practical somehow, but let's not kid ourselves. In any case, June's advantage for the task is her riding animal, a mole-like creature called a Shirshu, which (though blind) can track anyone anywhere in the world by smell, and which has a paralyzing sting in its tongue.
Upon confronting Our Heroes, the hunters do well at first – it takes several dozen stings to put Appa down, but down he eventually goes – but then Katara waterbends several casks of perfume all over everything, "blinding" the shirshu and sending it into a stinging frenzy. Zuko and June are both paralyzed. Iroh (who had been hitting on June from the first and informed in no uncertain terms that the attraction wasn't mutual) merely pretends to be so he can enjoy the experience of having June lay across him.
Yeah.
I suspect it never even occurred to the writers that someone might read this scene like I just did. Surely Iroh is too clownish and harmless for anyone to see him as threatening in any way! And usually they'd be right – we've only caught the barest glimpses of the badassery that Iroh will later display at this point – but this cartoon was done in anime style. The white-bearded old guy is never harmless. And even if he was, she's paralyzed. This is what I meant when I said this season talks the talk better than it walks the walk.
The Deserter – a very Aang-centric episode. Aang finds his first firebending teacher, a deserter from (the high command of) the Fire Nation military named Jeong-Jeong. Unfortunately, Aang gets impatient and careless (even Sokka is held up as an example of concentration), and ends up burning Katara's hands (which were held up to shield her face, so it could have been even worse). She puts her hands in a nearby river to soothe them, and discovers that she can use her waterbending to heal (a talent Jeong-Jeong greatly envies). This becomes important later.
The Northern Air Temple – This one's for those of you who were interested in how a show about superhuman martial artists treats the differently-abled. Here's how: we meet Teo, a 13-year-old Earth Kingdom boy, in mid-air: his father, a genius mechanist, has built a glider attachment for his (Teo's) wheelchair. He gives Aang a serious run for his money in an impromptu flying competition (something that annoys Aang quite a bit, as the kid isn't even an airbender), volunteers to act as Our Heroes' tour guide throughout most of the rest of the episode, then takes his own place in the defenses when the Fire Nation shows up. No one even thinks to suggest that such an able flyer should retreat into the Temple just because his legs don't work. Personally, I think this all adds up to a better lesson than the Very Special Episode where Kim Possible learned that the kid in the wheelchair can take care of himself just fine.
The Waterbending Master – This is the second episode where the show confronts sexism directly, and it's much more serious than a teenage boy's macho posturing this time.
Our Heroes finally arrive at the Northern Water Tribe, and it's everything they hoped it would be: dozens, maybe hundreds of waterbenders. Grand buildings sculpted out of ice. A waterbending-operated gate in the seawall with a lock beyond it; waterbending-powered boats traversing the canals; even exhibitions of waterbending as dance/performance art.
Then they meet Master Pakku, the tribe's waterbending teacher, and it all goes to hell.
Pakku is glad – well, willing – to teach Aang, but refuses to teach Katara. It's against the customs of the Northern Water Tribe to teach women how to fight – get your ass over to the Healing Huts with the rest of the girls and learn how to use your waterbending in a proper womanly way.
Aang is ready to walk out over this, but Katara doesn't let him. The world needs the Avatar at full strength.
Katara does, in fact, go to the Healing Huts – any waterbending she can learn is better than none – and she does, in fact, learn a great deal. After class, she speaks with the (much nicer than Pakku) teacher, who asks her who the lucky boy is. Apparently, the heirloom necklace that Katara wears as a keepsake of her mother is a betrothal necklace. What's more, the teacher recognizes it: it belonged to her childhood friend Kanna…Katara's Gran-Gran.
At Sokka's suggestion, Aang starts teaching Katara whatever he learns from Pakku during the day. Unfortunately, Pakku catches them at it, and considers it such an insult to himself, his teachings, and his entire culture that he refuses to teach Aang anymore. Think about that a minute. He'll leave the world's agent of balance, the only real hope against the Fire Nation, untrained because Aang dared to teach a girl combat waterbending.
They appeal to the Chief, but he either can't or won't order Pakku to teach Aang against his will…unless Katara gives a suitably humble apology. She's about to, but Pakku's smugness finally pushes her over the edge, and she challenges him to a fight instead. He ignores her challenge…her insults…her impugning his manhood…but when she smacks him in the back of the head with a water whip, she finally gets her fight.
She loses, of course. What did you expect? She's enormously talented – a prodigy, really – but he's enormously talented, too, and he's been doing this his whole life. It's like a fourth-level character with all 18s in the relevant stats going up against a 20th-level character, or a 14-year-old Michael Jordan going up against whoever was the NBA MVP that year. Thing is, to judge by Pakku's reactions – and those of the watching crowd – no one has ever given him this much of a fight, let alone some half-taught teenage girl. She actually puts him on the defensive once or twice.
When the fight is over, he notices Katara's necklace lying on the snow, it having been knocked off during the fight. Like the healing teacher, he recognizes it immediately: he made it himself sixty years ago, for the great love of his life. Katara – softie that she is – immediately offers her sympathies, and suggests that Kanna left because she refused to let her birth tribe's restrictive traditions (in this case an arranged marriage) rule her life.
Ladies and Gentleman, I give you Master Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe: Poster Child for Patriarchy Hurts Men, Too.
And he seems to realize it, too, because the next morning we see Aang and Katara both running into his class, where he asks what they think they're doing…getting there so late.
The Siege of the North – This is the epic finale of the first season, and everybody – male and female, young and old – kicks truly astounding amounts of ass (well, Katara only kicks one ass, but it's an extremely challenging ass. Quality instead of quantity). But there are only a couple points that are of interest to us here.
First is the follow-up to the Pakku storyline. The first thing we see in this episode is Katara taking one of her classmates down with a cocky grin on her face. No, his wasn't the high-quality ass I was talking about. Then we see that she's done much the same to the entire rest of the class. Pakku steps up and – after confirming that no one else wants to face her again – praises her as the greatest student he's ever taught, a fine example of what hard work and fierce determination can do. Give the man credit: once you convince him he's wrong, he changes wholeheartedly. He then goes on to say that raw talent isn't enough, with a significant glance at Aang, who's sitting off to the side playing with Momo.
This establishes a pattern for the rest of the series: Aang will always be more powerful by far than Katara (as the Avatar is always more powerful by far than every other bender on the planet), but she will always be the more skilled, because she works harder at it. Indeed, from the beginning of next season on, she's his teacher.
The other thing we need to look at is a subplot that I neglected in last episode that comes to the fore in this episode: Sokka's whirlwind romance with Princess Yue.
Now, for one thing, it's a bit odd that the Northern Water Tribe even has a princess. Sokka and Katara are the children of the chief of the Southern Water Tribe, and they're neither treated nor addressed as royalty. They're honored guests in the Northern Water Tribe, heroes (or anonymous travelers) in the Earth Kingdom and "filthy peasants" in the Fire Nation, but wherever they may go, they're commoners. So whence comes this "princess" business?
Anyway, Yue is every inch the proper, well-behaved young lady that the Northern Water Tribe could wish for in a princess. That's the problem. Sokka, with his goofy charm and his eagerness to – y'know – actually spend time and do activities (yes, that's exactly what he invites her to do) with her wins her over quite quickly.
Thing is, she's already engaged to a Grade A doucehnozzle named Hahn – arranged marriage. When we – and Sokka – meet Hahn, he's talking about all the girls he's "courted" (judging by the leer and the tone of voice, he's not boasting about how many bouquets of flowers he's bought over the years), but that Yue has the best "perks." Sokka, as we'd all like to do at that moment, promptly clocks him. Be that as it may, Yue won't break off her engagement (if she even can)…it's all for the good of her people.
No, don't ask me why her people need her to marry such an asshole. The best I can come up with is that Chief Arnook isn't a strong leader (he certainly doesn't have the personal force of Hakoda of the Southern Tribe), and needs a political alliance with Hahn's family to prevent a schism in the tribe. Or maybe the Northern Tribe would be demoralized if their princess broke their traditions so.
Sokka is horrified at the very idea. Apparently, patriarchal as the Southern Water Tribe is, marriage is still about love instead of duty, and is freely chosen by those involved.
Man. You're talking something serious in the way of sexism when you manage to shock a Water Tribesman, aren't you?
In the end, the situation is rendered moot. Yue is a quiet girl, not powerful and brash like Katara, nor highly-trained and professional like Suki, but she ends up doing a service for her tribe far greater than a political marriage could ever have been.
Which brings us to the end of this leg of our trip. Join me next time for Season 2, and the introduction of all the female characters who bring some actual balance to this show – in particular, everybody's favorite mini-Starbuck and the most terrifying 14-year-old you will ever meet.
Bush Torture Memos
They have been released, and they are ugly:
[T]he Justice Department released and repudiated four more Bush-era memos from the Office of Legal Counsel that provided the legal justification for such extreme interrogations. An Aug. 1, 2002, OLC memo endorsed the legality of 10 techniques the CIA considered for use against al-Qaeda leader Abu Zubaida. Some techniques were mild, such as holding the detainee's face or grasping him by the lapels to grab his attention. Others were despicable, such as waterboarding, in which water is poured over a prisoner's cloth-covered face to simulate drowning, or sleep deprivation for up to 11 days. Eleven days! A May 10, 2005, memo gave the legal thumbs up to confining a detainee in a cramped, dark box for up to eight hours at a time and up to 18 hours a day. Some techniques were simply bizarre, such as placing a caterpillar into a confined box holding Mr. Zubaida -- who was believed to be afraid of insects -- as long as the insect did not sting and Mr. Zubaida was not led to believe that it was capable of stinging.More details here.
The Obama administration has said it will not prosecute "CIA operatives who participated in enhanced interrogations of terrorism suspects during the Bush administration," and the president's statement upon release of the memos—"At a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past. Our national greatness is embedded in America's ability to right its course in concert with our core values, and to move forward with confidence. That is why we must resist the forces that divide us, and instead come together on behalf of our common future."—almost certainly means that the political leaders who sanctioned the acts committed by those operatives will not be prosecuted (or even investigated), either.
I can appreciate the sentiment on some abstract level from which emanates all dreams of living in a Utopia where everyone has full bellies and rides rainbow-farting unicorns, but, on the other hand recognize that whatever alleged unity will come from not prosecuting people who committed evident war crimes comes at the expense of doing everything possible, including public accountability, to prevent this ugly history from repeating itself. Greenwald:
The most criticism-worthy act that Obama engaged in yesterday was to affirm and perpetuate what is the single most-destructive premise in our political culture: namely, that when high government officials get caught committing serious crimes, the responsible and constructive thing to do is demand immunity for them, while only those who are vindictive and divisive want political leaders to be held accountable for their crimes.I'm glad that Obama released the memos (which he was required by law to do) and released them unredacted (which he was not), but I am deeply disappointed that the release is apparently going to be used as a period at the end of a sentence, instead of the starting point for rigorous investigations as it quite obviously should be. Obama talks about the end of a dark era, but a new era begins with serious accountability. As it is, we're instead leaving ourselves in the dark ages.
…[Obama expresses exactly] the mindset that has destroyed the rule of law in the U.S. and spawned massive criminality in our elite class. Accountability for crimes committed by political leaders (as opposed to ordinary Americans) is scorned as "retribution" and "laying blame for the past." Those who believe that the rule of law should be applied to the powerful as well as to ordinary citizens are demonized as the "forces that divide us." The bottomless corruption of immunizing political elites for serious crimes is glorified in the most Orwellian terms as "a time for reflection," "moving forward," and "coming together on behalf of our common future."
Daily Kitteh
Kali: "Yeah, I'm up here next to the aquarium, harassing the fish, what you gonna do about it, huh?"
Random YouTubery: "Ruido"
Noise.
Joaquín Sabina is a Spanish poet/songwriter/musician with an iconic status in Spain similar to that of Bob Dylan in the United States. Like Dylan and Leonard Cohen, Sabina’s songs are brilliant, but his lyrics also stand alone as poems in their own right.
The following song, “Ruido” (“Noise”) is one of my favorites. Sabina’s songs have layers of meaning, and the surface story of “Ruido” is one of a marriage ending. The central image of oppressive, toxic noise that tears down everything you are and love, however, is limitlessly extensible. So I play this song whenever I feel beset by society’s destructive noise. It is a perfect song for a Friday at Shakesville: we’ve spent all week listening to society’s destructive noise and answering back.
Sabina sings of noise: noise of lawyers and of liars, noise of lost years, poisonous noise, obdurate noise.
I would add: noise of the privileged defending their privilege.
I am so over this week. Enough of this noise. What noise are you seriously over, Shakers?
Joaquín Sabina and Olga Román singing "Ruido".
Music starts automatically at the following links: Sabina and Román have their own websites.
The lyrics for "Ruido" appear below the fold. Many thanks to Luisma for working on the translation with me.
Ella le pidió que la llevara al fin de mundo
She asked him to take her to the end of the world
él puso a su nombre todas las olas del mar.
He put all the waves of the sea in her name
Se miraron un segundo
They looked at one another for a second
como dos desconocidos.
Like two strangers .
Todas las ciudades eran pocas a sus ojos
All the cities were nothing in her eyes
ella quiso barcos y él no supo qué pescar.
She wanted ships and he didn't know what to fish for.
Y al final números rojos,
And in the end it’s in the red
en la cuenta del olvido,
In the ledger of forgetting,
y hubo tanto ruido
And there was so much noise
que al final llegó el final.
that at the end there was the end.
Mucho, mucho ruido,
Lots and lots of noise
ruido de ventanas,
Noise of windows
nidos de manzanas
apples nested
que se acaban por pudrir.
so that they rot
Mucho, mucho ruido,
Lots and lots of noise,
tanto, tanto ruido,
so much so much noise,
tanto ruido y al final por fin el fin.
so much noise and at the end finally the end.
Tanto ruido y al final...
So much noise and at the end...
Hubo un accidente,
There was an accident,
se perdieron las postales,
the post-cards were lost,
quiso Carnavales y encontró fatalidad.
she wanted Carnivale and found fatality.
Porque todos los finales
Because all the ends
son el mismo repetido
are the same repeated
y con tanto ruido no
and with so much noise
se oyó el ruido del mar.
the noise of the sea was unheard.
Descubrieron que los besos
They discovered that the kisses
no sabían a nada,
tasted of nothing,
hubo una epidemia
There was an epidemic
de tristeza en la ciudad.
of sadness in the city
Se pisaron las pisadas,
The footprints were stepped in,
se apagaron los caminos,
the roads went dark,
y con tanto ruido
and with so much noise
no escucharon el final.
The ending went unheard.
Mucho, mucho ruido,
Lots and lots of noise,
ruido de tijeras,
noise of scissors,
ruido de escaleras
noise in the stairway
que se acaban por bajar.
departing at last.
Mucho, mucho ruido,
Lots and lots of noise,
tanto, tanto ruido.
so much so much noise.
Tanto ruido y al final...
So much noise and in the end...
Tanto ruido y al final...
So much noise and in the end...
Tanto ruido y al final
So much noise and in the end...
la soledad.
Lonliness.
Ruido de tenazas,
Noise of pliers,
ruido de estaciones,
noise of train stations,
ruido de amenazas,
noise of threats,
ruido de escorpiones.
noise of scorpions.
Tanto, tanto ruido.
So much, so much noise.
Ruido de abogados,
Noise of lawyers,
ruido compartido,
shared noise,
ruido envenenado,
poisonous noise,
demasiado ruido.
too much noise.
Ruido platos rotos,
Noise of broken dishes,
ruido años perdidos,
noise of lost years ,
ruido viejas fotos,
noise of old photos,
ruido empedernido.
obdurate noise.
Ruido de cristales,
Noise of windowpanes,
ruido de gemidos,
noise of moans,
ruidos animales,
animal noise,
contagioso ruido.
contagious noise.
Ruido mentiroso,
Lying noise,
ruido entrometido,
meddlesome noise,
ruido escandaloso,
scandalous noise,
silencioso ruido.
silent noise.
Ruido acomplejado,
Noise with a complex ,
ruido introvertido,
introverted noise,
ruido del pasado,
noise of the past,
descastado ruido.
bastard noise .
Ruido de conjuros,
Noise of conjuring,
ruido malnacido,
ill-begotten noise ,
ruido tan oscuro
noise so dark
puro y duro ruido.
pure hard noise
Ruido qué me has hecho,
Noise what have you done to me,
ruido yo no he sido,
noise it wasn’t me,
ruido insatisfecho,
unsatisfied noise,
ruido a qué has venido.
Noise what did you come here for?
Ruido como sables,
Noise like sabers,
ruido enloquecido,
crazy noise,
ruido intolerable,
intolerable noise,
ruido incomprendido.
uncomprehending noise.
Ruido de frenazos,
Noise of squealing brakes,
ruido sin sentido,
senseless noise,
ruido de arañazos,
noise of scratches,
ruido, ruido, ruido.
noise, noise, noise.
Teaspoons for Shakesville, Continued
Thank you to everyone who has donated in response to my post yesterday. I am hugely appreciative for every donation, no matter the amount—and I want to reiterate once again that if you've got nothing to spare, don't worry about it. The whole point of the fundraiser is so Iain and I don't have to struggle on behalf on the blog, and the absolute last thing I want is for anyone to beggar themselves because of a donation. That's just exchanging one unfairness for another.
I also want to say this about the fundraising: Asking for money is incredibly hard for me. I hate doing it. I hate doing it so much, in fact, that there are times I'd actually rather be shit-broke. Part of it is just an innate aversion to asking for anything; part of it is that those threads always end up being extremely upsetting, for reasons that I imagine are evident to anyone who's read any of them.
But fundraising is also one of the most feminist acts I do here. Women's service work, whether it's mothering, elder care, volunteering, philanthropy, social work, employment in any "pink collar" profession, or social advocacy, is gravely devalued, frequently to the point where it is unpaid work altogether.*
And when I don't ask that my work be valued by the community, I'm feeding that narrative; I'm implicitly saying, "It's okay to expect this from me. It's okay to feel entitled to the product of a woman's work for nothing in return."—and that makes me feel even worse than asking for money does, because it's counterproductive to the work we do here every day. It's antifeminist.
This blog started as a hobby, a part-time interest into which I could put as much or as little time as I wanted. It's not a hobby anymore; it's a job. And regarding it thus is a feminist act.
Every donation is a feminist act, every donation a teaspoon.
Thank you.
-----------------------------
* A reality also faced by every man who engages in this work, because it is seen as "women's work."
Dear Mr. Perry
Your entitled white dude humor is some tired-ass codswallop, sir.
I was feeling a bit wound up last night, so I was still awake when David Letterman came on. Matthew Perry was the first guest. He opened with a stalking joke aimed at former Friends costar Lisa Kudrow, and finished with an all-brown-folks-look-alike-to-me-durr-hurr joke aimed at director M. Night Shyamalan.
It was not cute. The audience, however, seemed to eat it up. When Letterman asked the inevitable question about whether Perry still sees his old Friends buddies, Perry said he sees Kudrow sometimes:
Perry: She [Kudrow] doesn’t return my calls anymore, but there’s a certain section of road right by her house that if you park your car at the right time, you can see right into her window.Perry then set off on a rambling story of adventure in which he spends an evening schmoozing with director M. Night Shyamalan--you know, thinking he's going to be asked to star in Shyamalan's next movie. My partner said "I know where this is going". I finished the thought: "And it ain't gonna be pretty". After describing how he hung out with this man for a couple of hours, Perry reveals the denouement:
Letterman: Can you give the coordinates on that a little later?
Perry: Absolutely—during the break!
[uproarious laughter from audience]
Perry: I realize, the whole time—it’s not M. Night Shyamalan. It’s just an Indian guy.Perry finished up the story by saying that when he realized it was not Shyamalan, he “felt dirty” and “high-tailed it out of there”.
[uproarious laughter]
Letterman: [laughing a bit uncomfortably] Wow. I don’t know what to say about that.
As I yelled at my teevee: I feel dirty too, just watching you tell this story, Mr. Perry.
Below the fold is a YouTube video of the ten-minute interview, although for all I know the video will disappear. In any case the important bits are written down here in black and blue.
Question of the Day
So. What is (or was) for dinner?
I'm currently cooking (and very currently! I'm in between frying!) up some country-fried-steak (and country gravy, of course), mashed potatoes, and lots o' buttery corn (oh, and cranberries too). Artery-clogging deliciousness, baby!
Question of the Day
The flipside of yesterday's QOTD:
What's your favorite offline waste of time?
I am cursed with a love of video games. They seriously suck away so much of my time. I hate games that show how long you've been playing on their save files; I don't wanna know! I feel guilty!
Coming in a close second is browsing record/bookstores. Especially Dusty Groove, the greatest record store in the universe.
Daily Kitteh: Dear Sweet Boy
This evening, the familiar chap on my shoulder transforms from mammal to muse. While I could post a long tribute to one of the greatest cats I've ever known, I don't really have the energy right now to go through with it. Maybe after a little time has passed. For the time being, I think the email I sent out to people last night basically sums things up.
Unfortunately, Moon's time has come to move on. Our vet was able to figure out a treatment plan that gave us a little over another year with him when we thought all bets were off. He fought pretty strongly during that time and really hung in there up until this past weekend. The going theory is that his kidneys are just about shot.
He has no interest in eating, and his posture is quite withdrawn, clearly indicating that he has basically had enough and is ready. Tomorrow evening, the vet will do what needs to be done at this point. I asked our vet to consider using Moon for research to possibly aid in future treatments for other animals. The fact of the matter is that a cancerous mass was identified in December 2007 and he was able to last this long on a treatment of methimazole for his thyroid and prednisone for his inflamed digestive tract. I think it would be worthwhile for her and her colleagues to see what kind of effect the treatment had on the cancer.
Moon's been quite the character, as some of you could attest to. It's hard to believe that about 12 years have passed since the time I picked him up at the animal shelter, and he was already 5 years old at the time. One thing I remember fondly was a visit from my first house call vet who was trying to trim Feather's claws. Feather was meowing quite a bit, and then Moon ran onto the top of the couch where the vet was, meowed, and started slapping him on the head. I thought that was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.
Well, this is part of the package, as they say. I'll certainly miss him terribly, for as far as felines go, Moon shares no equal.
Teaspoons for Shakesville
So here's the thing: This month's fundraiser has been kind of a bust. And, the truth is, every fundraiser since November, back when everyone kicked in so I'd keep the blog open, has gotten gradually worse. I'm back to doing this for less than minimum wage.
Because the question has come up in comments again, let me just reiterate: For this blog and community to be run as a safe space, it is a full-time job, and it also means, for reasons I've previously explained, that I cannot subsist on ad revenue. Just as there is a "misogyny tax," there is a tax to be free from misogyny and all other forms of bigotry; there's a cost to providing a safe space. Traditional sources for monetizing a blog are not an option: Content-generated ads (like Google Ads) frequently yield ironic advertisements—diet plans on fat acceptance threads, and anti-gay ads on pro-gay threads. BlogAds ad submissions have to be turned down which feature sexualized imagery of women, language that breaks the commenting rules, or endorsements of companies that are union-busting or bigoted.
This community can't expect me to run a safe space and get paid for my work in this space from somewhere else. That's just the reality.
I'm tired of begging. I'm sure you're tired of me begging, too. But six months on from my walking away because I was exhausted and broke and ever being asked to provide more more more, I'm back in exactly the same place. Maybe everyone assumes that everyone else is filling the pot, but that isn't happening. I've held up my end of the bargain, but the same is not being done in return. I think you can imagine how much admitting that pains me.
The deal is: If you want to see Shakesville stay in business and run as a safe space, you've got to kick in. And if you want me to feel as though what I do here every day has value to the community, you've got to kick in. And if you don't want this space to be yet another place where a woman's service work is devalued just because it can be, then you've got to kick in.
Thank you to the people who have donated this month, or any other.
