Shakesville

LOL

[Content Note: Cat swatting at another cat. It's very minor, but if you have any fear of cat aggression, maybe skip this one.]

Let's all watch this and/or read the transcript and laugh forever:

Video Description: A white human hand holds a phone which is playing a video. The video shows a grey tabby cat sitting unawares just outside a cupboard in which another grey tabby cat is hiding. The cat in the cupboard reaches out its paw, winds up, and swats the other cat in the face, who then hisses in return. CLASSIC CATS.

Cut to a blond white young woman holding up a handwritten sign reading in black print: "DRAMATIC REENACTMENT." A young white man in a trenchcoat stands in front of a slightly open closet. Another young white man peeks out, just as the cat in the cupboard had done, then reaches up and swats at the other guy, who turns and hisses at him. CLASSIC CAT REENACTMENT.

Quote of the Day

"The constant questions over the last six weeks have proven a great distraction that has made it too difficult for me to serve the people of the 18th District with the high standards that they deserve and which I have set for myself. I have always sought to do what's best for my constituents and I thank them for the opportunity to serve."—Republican Congressman from Illinois Aaron Schock, who announced his resignation from Congress today, "after multiple news outlets raised questions about his use of taxpayer and campaign funds."

(This was the dude who decked out his office like the set of Downton Abbey, as you may recall.)

The congressman's woes began in February, when a reporter for the Washington Post published photos of Schock's lavish new Capitol Hill office. The decor was allegedly inspired by the British period drama "Downton Abbey." Schock later reimbursed the $40,000 cost of the office decor with his personal funds.

That story prompted other outlets to take a closer look at Schock's finances. The Associated Press used photos from Schock's Instagram account to trace flights he took on donor's private planes using taxpayer and campaign funds, while Buzzfeed noticed that Schock had used a lectern during appearances in his home district that appeared to be a replica one used by President Obama—and cost roughly $5,000.

...Politico reported that Schock resigned less than a day after the publication had raised questions about taxpayers footing the bill for mileage reimbursement on his personal vehicle.

Perhaps my favorite thing about this is that Schock is a Republican and thus an anti-taxation advocate, but felt pretty cool about using taxpayer dollars as his own personal Fun Fund.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Sophie the Torbie Cat sitting on my chest, looking content while I rub her head with my index finger

Sophie, the picture of whiskered contentment.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

I Write Letters

[Content Note: Misogyny; rape culture.]

Dear Dudes:

Lots of entries in the Helpful Hints series contain recommendations about listening to women. Listening to women is really important, for a whole lot of reasons, in every context.

But today I just want to talk to you about listening to women in one specific context: When a woman is telling you, or when multiple women are telling you, that they find another man to be dangerous.

We may use a different word than "dangerous." We might use a word like "creepy." Creepy is a useful word, a word women use a lot, to shorthand a spectrum of behaviors that can range from hostility to boundaries to unwanted touching to sexual assault. "Creepy" is often a word that women use when we fear that to actually try to articulate the red flags, which might seem relatively minor to someone who has not lived a lifetime navigating a misogynist culture, will elicit responses that call us hysterical or reactionary or oversensitive. "Creepy" is a way that we convey that we can't trust a man, in a very specific way.

We might use a word like "scary," or "abusive," or "weird." Depending on how safe we feel communicating our lack of safety, we might use a word even more innocuous, like "intense."

Listen to the context in which these words are used. Think about what it means when a woman is trying to tell you something is "off" about a guy, and what it means when she doesn't, or can't, simply come right out and say, "He is demonstrating a pattern of harmful behaviors that I have learned, by necessity and through a lifetime of experience, to recognize as signaling that I am not safe around him."

And, for Maude's sake, whatever you do, don't ever respond to a woman telling you that a man is harmful, in whatever way she can find to tell you, by insisting that he seems like a good guy to you.

Don't tell her that you've never noticed any of those things. Don't tell her he seems fine. Don't tell her, or imply, that she's imagining things. Don't tell her that he's never treated you that way.

Of course he hasn't. He is a dude, and so are you.

One of the basics of feminist theory is understanding that misogynist men don't treat other men the way they treat women.

You aren't capable, by virtue of being a dude, of assessing how a harmful man treats women. Not even being an onlooker, observing how that man interacts with women, is informative in the same way being his target is.

One of the things you need to know about men who abuse women is that most of them are very adept at appearing to be "good guys" when there are other guys watching.

Which is why it's so important to listen to women. Because they have a perspective on these guys that you never will.

That is yet another thing that your privilege grants you. You have the choice to use that as a reason to audit women, or as a reason to listen to us.

Love,
Liss

[Related Reading: Different Perspectives, by Necessity; "He is a good boy."]

The Make-Up Thread

Last week's make-up thread was very popular, and there were people who missed it, and people who have more to say/ask/recommend, not to mention those among us who just love talking all things make-up, so here is another chance!

(If you'd like me to make this a regular feature, let me know, and I'd be happy to do that!)

Do you have a make-up product you'd recommend? Are you looking for the perfect foundation which has remained frustratingly elusive? Need or want to offer make-up tips? Searching for hypoallergenic products? Want to grouse about how you hate make-up? Want to gush about how you love it?

Whatever you like—have at it!

Please note, as always, that advice should be not be offered to an individual person unless they solicit it. Further: This thread is open to everyone—women, men, genderqueer folks. People who are make-up experts, and people who are make-up newbies. Also, because there is a lot of racist language used in discussions of make-up, and in make-up names, please be aware to avoid turns of phrase that are alienating to women of color, like "nude" or "flesh tone" when referring to a peachy or beige color. I realize some recommended products may have names that use these words, so please be considerate about content noting for white supremacist (and/or Orientalist) product naming.

Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

[Content Note: There is a strobe-light effect in this video.]

Tina Turner: "Missing You"

In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Homophobia] An Arizona state judiciary ethics advisory committee has advised that "Arizona judges who perform wedding ceremonies...cannot turn away [same-sex] couples who want to marry. [The] committee said rejecting same-sex couples would violate a judicial-conduct rule against bias or prejudice based on sexual orientation. The decision generated outrage from a leading conservative lawmaker and organization opposed to gay marriage." Of course it did. Tough shit.

[CN: Sexual violence; homophobia; racism; self-harm] The new Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart film Get Hard sounds terrific: "Get Hard may be the most high-profile comedy ever made about the subject of prison rape." Swell. And Kevin Hart is responding well to the criticism: "Hart introduced his latest comedy Get Hard at SXSW on Monday night by telling fans to give him their reviews on Twitter. 'If you don't like it,' Hart said with a sarcastic bite, 'what I want you to do is go in the middle of the street and kill yourself.'"

[CN: Rape culture; sexual assault] This is rape culture: "A Pennsylvania State University fraternity was suspended after police discovered that members were using Facebook to post nude photos of women, Pennsylvania television station WJAC reported on Monday. WJAC obtained a copy of the search warrant, which claimed that several members of the fraternity were accused of taking photos of women while they were asleep or passed out and posting them to secret Facebook groups. Members of the Kappa Delta Rho fraternity created a Facebook group called 'Covert Business Transactions,' according to WJAC. A victim allegedly found out about the group, and it was shut down. The frat then created a group called '2.0,' according to the warrant. State College police said that about 150 students and alumni joined the groups." Just a few bad apples, naturally.

[CN: Injury] This is pretty remarkable: "After just one season in the NFL, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland on Monday told ESPN's Outside The Lines that he was retiring amid concerns about future brain injuries. Borland, 24, was one of the league's top rookies last season and was expected to be a key contributor for a San Francisco team that had already lost linebacker Patrick Willis to an unexpectedly early retirement. 'I just honestly want to do what's best for my health,' Borland told OTL's Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru. “From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk. ...I feel largely the same, as sharp as I've ever been. For me, it's wanting to be proactive. I'm concerned that if you wait 'til you have symptoms, it's too late. ...There are a lot of unknowns. I can't claim that X will happen. I just want to live a long, healthy life, and I don't want to have any neurological diseases or die younger than I would otherwise.'" Wow.

[CN: Animal endangerment] Oh no: "Animal rescue centers in California are being inundated with stranded, starving sea lion pups, raising the possibility that the facilities could soon be overwhelmed, the federal agency coordinating the rescue said. The precise cause is not clear, but scientists believe the sea lions are suffering from a scarcity of natural prey that forces nursing mothers to venture farther out to sea for food, leaving their young behind for longer periods. 'As facilities reach capacity, it will likely not be possible to rescue and rehabilitate every impacted animal,' said Justin Viezbecke, stranding coordinator for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration." Suffering from a scarcity of natural prey is a nice way of saying human beings are fucking up the ecosystem with climate change and/or overfishing.

Mitt Romney "is slated to fight former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield...during a several-bout evening at the Rail Event Center near the Union Pacific Depot in Salt Lake City on May 15." For charity. Okay, player. Good luck! You are super weird!

And finally! This video of a husky mama playing with her puppies might just be the cutest thing I see all day! ♥

On Starbucks' Race Together

[Content Note: White supremacy; racism; privilege.]

So, Starbucks has launched a program called "Race Together," after Starbucks chair and CEO Howard Schultz "voiced his concerns with partners (employees) in the company's Seattle headquarters and started a discussion about race in America."

Presumably, they mean "started a discussion about race in America" within the company, and don't imagine that Schultz started that discussion full-stop. Which still raises the question about why a discussion about race wasn't already happening at Starbucks (at the executive level, because I feel pretty confident that such conversations are already happening among employees who are people of color), but okay.

So Starbucks has held, in the last few months, open forums in Oakland, Los Angeles, St. Louis, New York, and Chicago, where "more than 2,000 Starbucks partners have discussed racial issues. ...In each forum, partners demonstrated vulnerability and courage as they shared personal stories. It was clear to those who attended, the gatherings highlighted the mission and values of Starbucks, and the partners' desire to do more."

I have no idea how these open forums were run, or how/if they were moderated, so I'm curious how safe they felt for participants who aren't white. Spaces in which white people are publicly working out their privilege can feel really alienating to people of color. And it can quite easily devolve into making people of color feel obliged to educate white people, as opposed to being able to freely express their own perspectives.

This sounds to me like a lot of wanting to Do Something, without a framework put in place with guidelines that ensure the safety of people of color.

Baristas in cities where the forums were held said they wanted to do something tangible to encourage greater understanding, empathy and compassion toward one another. Given their willingness to discuss race relations, many partners wanted to begin conversations with their customers too. Partners in New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Oakland and Los Angeles have voluntarily begun writing "Race Together" on Starbucks cups. Partners in all Starbucks stores in the U.S. will join them today. Partners in Starbucks® stores may also engage customers in conversation through Race Together stickers available in select stores, and a special USA Today newspaper section arriving in stores later this week.

...Race Together is not a solution, Schultz acknowledged, "but it is an opportunity to begin to re-examine how we can create a more empathetic and inclusive society – one conversation at a time."

Look, I'm glad that Starbucks wants to Do Something, especially ahead of their shareholders' meeting this week (ahem), but firing up a bunch of disproportionately white young people to "begin conversations with their customers" about race, without any meaningful guidance on engaging, could go very wrong very quickly. Has there been, for example, any discussion with baristas about the fact that unsolicited conversation started by a privileged person on a marginalized person's oppression could be profoundly triggering for that customer?

Finally: I'm also questioning the very concept at the center of this discussion. "Race Together" could very easily be wielded like a weapon, like the ubiquitous calls for "unity" or "solidarity" that actually serve to scold people of color for being "divisive" if they don't get on board with "the conversation" that's being led by white people.

What I see is a lot of "good intentions" without a whole lot of evidence that those intentions are underwritten by a commitment to safety for the people victimized by racism.

Well Played, Ma'am

[Content Note: Misogyny.]

This is awesome:

On Monday, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and acclaimed Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson were wrapping up a SXSW Interactive panel that had focused on diversity, when an audience member called out the two men for repeatedly interrupting their fellow panelist, the United States' Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith.

Even more awkward? The audience member who posed the question was apparently Judith Williams, who heads up Google's unconscious bias program.

Here's how it went down: Schmidt, Isaacson and Smith were onstage together for a panel called "How Innovation Happens." One of the recurring themes of their hourlong talk was diversity in tech, and how the U.S. government and companies like Google can get more women and minorities involved.

Both men interrupted Smith several times — not unusual for moderated panels — but Williams felt it was particularly poignant given the day's topic of diversity. During a Q&A session with the audience, Williams, who is Google's Global Diversity and Talent Programs manager, asked both men if they thought their interruptions were a sign of the unconscious bias they themselves had been talking about.

"Given that unconscious bias research tells us that women are interrupted a lot more than men, I'm wondering if you are aware that you have interrupted Megan many more times," she asked, which immediately prompted a round of cheers and applause from the packed room.

BOOM.

Many years ago, I had a male colleague who would constantly interrupt me in meetings. And it was the worst kind of interruption—as soon as he'd see where I was going with an idea, he'd interrupt me to present the idea himself, as if it were his own.

This guy was 20 years my senior, and had professional seniority on me, and he wasn't the sort of guy with whom I could simply have a straightforward conversation about the dynamic where there would be any kind of productive and meaningful resolution.

So, one day, I just started drumming my fingers loudly on the conference table every time he interrupted me and started speaking over me. After only two or three times of this, he turned to me and angrily asked, "Can you please stop making noise while I'm speaking?"

"I'm sorry," I said, "but I can't. This is what happens when I'm put on pause by your interrupting me. Once I can complete my thought, it will stop."

There were lots of muffled snickers around the room. He quietly seethed. But it only took a few more finger-drumming incidents before he stopped.

Naturally, he had to try to "win" by dramatically asking, "Are you done speaking? May I speak now? I wouldn't want to tire your fingers." several times, but I just looked back at him with a sweet smile and responded, "I am. Thank you for asking!"

Mo'Ne Davis Continues to Be Awesome

At The Root, Yesha Callahan reports that Little League phenom Mo'Ne Davis has "teamed up with M4D3 to design a sneaker with proceeds helping impoverished girls around the world."

[Davis] has partnered with M4D3 (Make A Difference Everyday) and Because I'm a Girl to release a Davis designed sneaker. The sneakers are modestly priced at $75 and are designed to replicate the stitching on a baseball. 15% of the proceeds from the sneakers will support the Plan Because I Am A Girl initiative, which helps poverty stricken girls in developing countries.

"I never thought at the age of 13 I'd be a role model, but having young girls look up to me is pretty cool," Davis stated in a press release. "If I can inspire them to reach their goals, that would be even cooler. Designing shoes with M4D3 is exciting and I wanted them to support Because I am a Girl to help girls and give them a chance at a better future."

At the mere age of 13, Davis has once again proven to be a role model for people of all ages. Imagine if professional athletes with clothing and sneaker lines also did something similar. I can only wonder how many people can be fed off the sales of a Kanye West or Air Jordan sneaker.

I hope it's not only young girls who look up to Mo'Ne Davis, because she might only be 13 years old, but she is a titan.

image of Mo'Ne Davis, a teenage black girl, posing with an armful of her sneakers

image of Mo'Ne Davis, a teenage black girl, posing with an armful of her sneakers

Open Thread

image of the element boron

Hosted by boron.

Question of the Day

If you were given the opportunity to travel 100 years into the future for three days, what would you spend your limited time investigating and exploring, to see how things had changed?

Quote of the Day

[Content Note: Christian Supremacy.]

"The reason Bibles are no longer in the public schools is because we let them take them out. You say, 'Well, we can't get them back in?' Yes we can! Yes we can!"—Republican presidential wannabe Rick Santorum, at The Awakening conference, hosted by the right-wing Liberty Counsel, over the weekend.

The 2016 presidential primary hasn't even started in earnest yet, and it's already super terrific.

The Monday Blogaround

This blogaround brought to you by boots.

Recommended Reading:

Heather: [Content Note: Shaming; illness] To the Mean Stranger Who Judged My Parenting Abilities, Thank You

Nikki: [CN: Culture of abuse] You Think You're Helping: The Silencing of Domestic Violence Victims on Twitter

Sara: [CN: Illness; disablism; racism] The Bad Blood: My Life with Sickle Cell Anaemia

Carla: [CN: Racism; dehumanization; eliminationism] San Francisco Police Officers Investigated for Sending Racist Texts

TLC: [CN: Transphobia] TLC Testifies at Historic Hearing on LGBT Workplace Discrimination

Diamond: Meet the Girl Behind "On Fleek"

Robbie: Lose Yourself in the Captivating Kinetic Sculptures of Jennifer Townley

Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!

The Walking Thread

[Content Note: Descriptions of violence. Spoilers are lurching around undeadly herein.]

image of Michonne sitting at a table eating scrambled eggs and making a major WTF face

(Photobucket is being a turd and won't let me upload my screen cap from the latest episode, so, instead: Above a classic pic of Michonne wearing an expression that perfectly encapsulates my feelings about this fucking show.)

When last we left our totally trepid band of zombie slayers, Grimes Gang is pretty convinced that the Aarontownians are WEAK and that their WEAK-ASS WEAKNESS is going to get everyone killed. And since Grimes Gang are apparently the heroes of this piece, that's pretty much exactly what happens in this episode!

The episode starts, as always, with "Previously on The Walking Dead," to remind us what has happened and spoil what is coming, which includes a flashback of Gabriel the Terrible Priest burning his collar. Cut immediately to the opening scene of this week's episode, in which Gabriel the Terrible Priest is wearing his collar. Guess he had a spare!

Gabriel finds a welcome basket full of strawberries at the parish in Aarontown, and apparently he doesn't like strawberries, because he immediately destroys a Bible.

Meanwhile, Noah meets with Mr. Deanna to ask him if he'll teach him how to be an architect. Something something steel cut oats. Mr. Deanna agrees to mentor Noah, and gives him his notebook and tells him to write down everything, because "this is the beginning." Uh-oh. Watch your back, Noah! That sounds ominously optimistic!

Various Grimes Gangians are settling into their jobs, handed out by Deanna. Daryl rides off on his motorbike to accompany Aaron on a recruitment mission. (And then we never see Daryl for the rest of the episode! BYEEEEEEE!) Sgt. Red Bull joins a construction crew who are sourcing materials to reinforce the wall. Constable Grimes walks the mean streets of Aarontown, and finds Blaura Blinney in her garage, all sad because someone destroyed a metal sculpture of an owl on which she and her sons were working. Maggie does government shit with Deanna. And Glenn, Tara, Noah, and Dr. Mulletsworth join Deanna's son Douchebag and his bestie Douchebag Beta for a supply run to get computer stuff.

Dr. Mulletsworth doesn't want to go, and reminds them all that he is a coward. But they tell him he's got to join them, because they don't know which gleep glorp they need to fix the beep boop in the electrical grid. So he's given a gun and tossed in the van for the ride.

They arrive at the Huge & Dark Technology Warehouse, and they all enter cautiously. Glenn has been IN THE SHIT for so long that he can tell some gurgling zombies in the distance are trapped behind something. Dr. Mulletsworth reminds Tara again that he is a coward, in case you didn't get the hint from before that coming forthwith will be Dr. Mulletsworth Big Hero Moment.

Blah blah zombies, and Douchebag starts shooting at a zombie in riot fatigues, including a bulletproof helmet. Well, that certainly complicates slowing him down! So he aims for somewhere other than a head, and accidentally shoots a grenade. KABOOM. Douchebag is impaled on some machinery. RIP Douchebag. Tara is blown over and has a serious head wound. OH NO! Worse yet, the grenade blast opened the barrier that was keeping a horde of zombies contained. Now they're everywhere!

The survivors make for an office inside the warehouse. Tara is alive but desperately in need of first aid, and the first aid kit is in the van. OH NO! And suddenly they notice that Douchebag is still alive! Glenn and Noah and Douchebag Beta run off to rescue him. Dr. Mulletsworth is left all alone with Tara, and HE SUMMONS HIS COURAGE to carry her out to the van, awkwardly shooting zombies along their route. It's a Warehouse Day Miracle!

Meanwhile, Glenn and Noah and Douchebag Beta are trying to lift Douchebag off the machinery on which he's impaled, but they canny do it, captain! Douchebag Beta totes bails, because HE IS WEAK! Douchebag spends some of his last breaths explaining to Glenn that HE IS ALSO WEAK, and that he and Douchebag Beta left their former supply run team members to die. WEAK-ASS WEAKSAUCE, KING OF WEAKNESS! Eventually, Glenn and Noah are overrun by zombies and have to leave Douchebag there. He is eaten. RIP Douchebag.

Over at the construction site, one of the Aarontownians goes off to take a piss in the woods and stirs up a bunch of zombies. One of the weak-ass weakbrainz misfires at a zombie, hitting a construction bucket, and one of the other crew members, a lady named Francine, falls out of the bucket onto the ground right in front of an incoming horde. The weaksauce weakmonsters all abandon her and start to run away, but Sgt. Red Bull rescues her, because of course he does. Once they are safe, he punches the peeing coward, then Francine punches him, too, for good measure. Then Sgt. Red Bull takes charge of the crew, because HE AIN'T WEAK, SON!

Back in town, Grimes tries to solve the Mystery of the Smashed Metal Owl. He reports to Blaura Blinney that he's talked to a few people, but no one saw anything. GREAT DETECTIVE WORK, GRIMES! Somebody get this guy a starring role on CSI: Aarontown. Blaura Blinney's husband is a drunk who says stupid things to Grimes. Grimes hates him. And, for once, I agree with Grimes.

Elsewhere: Blaura Blinney's son Sam, who was terrified into silence by Carol last week, now wants to be BFFs with Carol, if she'll teach him how to make cookies. She tells him to steal chocolate if he wants her to teach him, and he does. Little reprobate! They hang out, and Sam confesses he wants one of the guns he caught Carol stealing, but won't tell her why. Carol, a survivor of domestic violence, figures out that Blaura Blinney's husband is hitting Blaura Blinney, and possibly Sam, too.

P.S. Sam destroyed the owl, because his dad sucks.

Back at the warehouse, Glenn and Noah and Douchebag Beta are trapped in two quarters of a revolving door by a zillion zombies. Glenn is figuring a way out, but Douchebag Beta is WEAK, and he's all, "Fuck all y'all!" and squeezes his way out, leaving just enough room for the zombies to reach in and grab Noah. Noah is pulled into the adjoining compartment of the door, and Glenn can only watch in horror as Noah is eaten alive in front of him. Jesus Jones this fucking show. RIP Noah.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand another black man on The Walking Dead is gone. MEANWHILE GRIMES IS STILL JUST FUCKING FINE!

Dr. Mulletsworth, empowered with newfound bravery, drives the van over to the door and honks and blares music, hitting the side of the van with his hand, beckoning the zombies to chase him. He leads them away, and Glenn can make a safe escape.

Douchebag Beta reaches the van first, but Glenn is close behind, and pummels the fuck out of him. WEAK-ASS MOTHERFUCKER! All of these Aarontownian fucks are SO WEAK! They're just getting Grimes Gang killed or hurt or endangered all over the place with their WEAK-O-RAMA WEAKNESS! JUST LIKE GRIMES GANG KNEW THEY WOULD!

Conversely, the one coward in Grimes Gang, Dr. Mulletsworth, is now A GODDAMNED HERO! Because that's how Grimes Gang rolls!

Back at Aarontown, Gabriel the Terrible Priest pays Deanna a visit to tell her that Grimes Gang are actually terrible people. CORRECT! But he sandwiches this in between some nonsense about the devil appearing to be a person of light or some shit, so he sounds crazy. Deanna promises she'll have a think about what he's said. Maggie overhears all of this. WATCH OUT, GABRIEL! GRIMES GANG DON'T LIKE NO RATS!

Meanwhile, Carol and Rick have a confab about Blaura Blinney's husband. He's gotta die. Oh shit.

Next week: More of this crapola.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Olivia the White Farm Cat curled up asleep on a pillow, her little pink mouth just slightly open

Livs, curled up and snoring away.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Finish This Sentence

My favorite antiquated phrase is...

...OH PARDON ME FOR LIVING!!!

Iain and I were talking about this omnipresent '80s phrase yesterday (his particular regionalism was "EXCUSE ME FOR BREATHING!") and laughing about how DRAMATIC it was and how no one ever uses it anymore. Except maybe sarcastically. But there was definitely a time in which young people (myself included) emoted this fierce bit of angsty hyperbole with profound sincerity, lol.

So what's your favorite phrase that's gone out of fashion?

Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

Orleans: "Still the One"

In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Death; extreme weather] Just awful: "Communities across the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu have been left devastated by Cyclone Pam, which brought gusts of wind of up to 300km/h (185mph). At least eight people have died—but contact has not yet been made with the population of some islands and the toll is expected to rise. ...Aerial images from remote villages across the islands also reveal scenes of devastation. Tens of thousands of people have been left without shelter. President Baldwin Lonsdale said the storm had 'wiped out' all development of recent years and his country would have to rebuild 'everything.'" Please feel welcome to leave links to relief efforts in comments.

[CN: Drones; war] Today, the ACLU will file a disclosure lawsuit over the Obama administration's continued drone program: "As the US debates expanding its campaign against the Islamic State beyond Iraq and Syria, the leading US civil liberties group is intensifying its efforts to force transparency about lethal US counterterrorism strikes and authorities. On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will file a disclosure lawsuit for secret Obama administration documents specifying, among other things, the criteria for placement on the so-called 'kill list' for drone strikes and other deadly force. Information sought by the ACLU includes long-secret analyses establishing the legal basis for what the administration terms its 'targeted killing program' and the process by which the administration determines that civilians are unlikely to be killed before launching a strike, as well as verification mechanisms afterward to establish if the strike in fact has caused civilian deaths."

[CN: Shooting] An arrest has been made in the non-fatal shooting of two police officers in Ferguson: "St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch announced that authorities had brought charges, including assault in the first degree, against 20-year-old Jeffrey Williams. ...Williams had been involved in protests on the evening that the shooting occurred and had 'acknowledged' firing shots, according to McCulloch. McCulloch said that Williams, who is African-American, may have been firing at someone other than the police. But regular demonstrators denied that they had ever seen Williams at the protests. 'We don't know him,' said Tony Rice, the founder of Ground Level Support, who has been protesting since August."

[CN; Guns; rape culture] In news that will surprise absolutely no one reading this: "College Rape Survivors Don't Want Guns on Campus." Nor do anti-rape advocacy groups. Says survivor and activist Lauren Gambill: "If my rapist had a gun at school, I have no doubt I would be dead. That's why I started this petition asking legislators in these states not to allow guns on campuses and put survivors like me in even more danger."

[CN: Misogyny; illness] Schools in Sierra Leone shut because of the Ebola crisis will finally reopen, but pregnant girls and young mothers will not be allowed: "Dr. Minkailu Bah, Minister of Education, Science and Technology said '[pregnant girls'] presence in the classroom would serve as a negative influence to other innocent girls.' Human rights groups have slammed the move, which specifies that pregnant girls and young mothers cannot sit the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West Africa Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE)—essentially barring them from graduating from high school or continuing on to university." Fucking hell.

[CN: Rape culture; child abuse; police misconduct] London's Metropolitan Police are being investigated following "claims it covered up child sex offences because of the involvement of police officers and MPs. The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating 14 referrals spanning four decades. It said the claims were of 'high-level corruption of the most serious nature.'" The allegations of looking the other way are utterly appalling, and include, as but one example: "An allegation that a document from the Houses of Parliament was found at a paedophile's address linking 'highly-prominent individuals,' including MPs and senior police officers, to a paedophile ring but no further action was taken." Rage. Seethe. Boil. Again, this is why anyone who shames survivors for not going to police are ignorant assholes.

[CN: Drought; climate change] Um fuck: "While Californians contemplate what they'll do if the drought lasts 10 years or turns into a megadrought by the end of the century, their attention is being directed by some scientists to a slightly more immediate problem. 'The state has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs, and our strategic backup supply, groundwater, is rapidly disappearing,' Jay Famiglietti, senior water scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech, wrote in a Los Angeles Times op-ed last week. And we're not ready, he wrote: 'California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one (let alone a 20-plus-year mega-drought), except, apparently, staying in emergency mode and praying for rain.'"

[Video] "Happy Monday, you're old! In the latest 'Kids React' video from The Fine Bros, watch as as these children and preteens marvel at the grainy quality of the VCR's picture, struggle with putting a VHS tape in, and discover how difficult it used to be to record a show or rent a movie." LOL.

And finally! Senior dogs with "frosted faces." LOVE.

The Jinx

[Content Note: Murder; descriptions of violence; privilege. Spoilers.]

Last night was the series finale of HBO's six-part miniseries about Robert Durst, The Jinx. Durst, one of the heirs of the multibillion-dollar Durst real estate empire in NYC, has long been suspected in the 1982 disappearance of Kathie Durst, to whom he was married, and the 2000 murder of Susan Berman, Durst's longtime friend and confidant. Durst was also tried in Texas in 2003 for the 2001 murder and dismemberment of his neighbor, but was incredibly found not guilty of murder, despite admitting having killed his neighbor (which he claimed was self-defense, and the subsequent dismemberment the result of panic).

That is the briefest of summaries in the remarkable life of a terrible person, who has long escaped meaningful accountability for any of his crimes, because of his immense privilege and the endlessly abundant benefit of the doubt afforded to him, because he is a grotesquely rich, straight, cis, white man.

Durst's participation in the documentary, because he wanted to tell his story and control the narrative outside of what has been reported by the mainstream media and/or law enforcement, was motivated by an arrogance born only of the most undiluted privilege. And it may well have been his downfall: He was arrested over the weekend and charged with the murder of Susan Berman. This, following the discovery of evidence by the documentarians during filming which implicated Durst. Whooooooops.

And then there was this: In the final moments of last night's finale, Durst is caught on mic, speaking to himself while using the bathroom, and essentially confesses to all three murders. He is stricken, trying hard to appear not to be, after being presented with the uncovered evidence, and he mutters a string of disjointed comments to himself, ending, finally, with: "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course."

Of course.

It might sound explosive, and maybe it was to anyone who could yet remain shocked by confirmation that Durst did the things he was accused of doing, but my reaction was less of a gasp than a sigh. No shit he did.

It's not difficult to imagine, however, the people who believed Durst, who failed utterly to see past his veneer of harmless eccentricities to find the controlling, manipulative, dangerous human lurking below. The series finale helpfully revisited with one of the jurists who found Durst not guilty of murder in Texas, who insisted Durst is just the unluckiest man alive. And the filmmaker himself, Andrew Jarecki, in one extraordinary scene, casually speaks about how much he liked Robert Durst, and could because he wasn't convinced Durst was guilty. He talks about all the benefit of the doubt of which Durst has been the beneficiary.

So much. So much goodwill. More than I can imagine being extended even to truly innocent people, who are not wealthy, straight, cis, white men.

That is what makes The Jinx such a powerful piece of filmmaking, really. The documentation of just how powerful privilege truly is, how it makes people believe in the inherent goodness of privileged people, in spite of all reason.

And while I'm certain the film, and the unearthed evidence, has had some influence on the long overdue prosecution of Robert Durst, I note that perhaps even more crucial, if less visible, was Durst's arrest for trespassing on his younger brother's property, after his brother, currently running the Durst empire, took out a restraining order on him.

For decades, Robert's crimes were of no concern to the Durst family, except insomuch as the suspicion of his guilt made for some occasional bad press. They did not use their considerable wealth and influence to help find who killed Kathie Durst (because they knew), and their wealth has paid for Robert's exorbitant criminal defense. It was only when one of them became personally frightened of Robert Durst, when he became a threat to his brother, not just some women and an old man in Galveston, that fortunes turned for Robert Durst.

But maybe that's just a coincidence. Ahem.