Shakesville

The Make-Up Thread

Here is your semi-regular make-up thread, to discuss all things make-up and make-up adjacent.

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!

* * *

image of my hand showing off robin's egg blue nail polish

Despite the fact that my cuticles appear to have been gnawed by a rabid wolverine (me), I am really enjoying this blue nail polish!

It's Blue-Away by Sally Hansen in their Insta-Dri line. And while it did indeed dry very quickly, it's also starting to come off very quickly without a top coat. LESSON LEARNED.

Anyway! What's up with you?

* * *

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

Barbra Streisand: "Somewhere"
This is one of my favorite vocal performances of all time. She absolutely takes my breath away every time I listen to it.

An Observation

As much as I loathe Donald Trump, and I loathe him so much, I do enjoy encountering a stranger who shares my feelings about Trump, and most of all discovering it by the utterly disgusted look on their face at the mere mention of his name.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Olivia the White Farm Cat reaching out toward my plate, with a piece of bacon on it

Girl, simmer down. It's just turkey bacon.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Homophobia] Tonight is President Obama's State of the Union address, and among those in attendance will be homophobic Kentucky clerk Kim Davis "after the Family Research Council arranged for her to be in the House audience along with her attorney Mat Staver." This would be awful enough, except it's even worse since Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case which federally legalized same-sex marriage, will be there as an invited guest of President Obama. I hope he doesn't have to see her face.

[CN: Carcerality] This is very interesting: "Philadelphia has a plan to cut its prison population by one-third, or about 2,500 inmates, over three years. It just needs some help with the cost. So said the city in a proposal submitted Wednesday to the MacArthur Foundation, seeking $2 million in grants and pledging $2 million in new and existing city money to drive its prison number down by 34 percent. ...In May, Philadelphia was one of 20 cities to win a $150,000 planning grant from the foundation to develop strategies. Up to 10 cities will be selected for grants to implement their plans. ...Philadelphia's proposal focuses on decreased reliance on cash bail, and enhanced diversion programs and mental-health supports for defendants awaiting trial on criminal charges. Currently, 75 percent of Philadelphia inmates are awaiting trial. ...'The causes of mass incarceration are numerous and complex, so the fact that all our criminal justice partners have come together behind one comprehensive plan to significantly reduce our prison population is a great accomplishment,' said Mayor Kenney, who in his first week in office has stressed the need for criminal-justice reform at several public appearances."

In other interesting news out of Philly: "Struggling Philadelphia Inquirer is donated to nonprofit in groundbreaking deal: 'If newspapers are having trouble turning a profit without deep annual cuts, how about becoming a nonprofit?' That was the question posed just a few months ago by an article in NiemanLab, a news industry publication. Late Monday night, in a stunning development for a struggling business, that's pretty close to what the storied Philadelphia Inquirer and its sister publications, the Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com, reported that they would become. Philly.com reported that owner H.F. 'Gerry' Lenfest donated the entire Philadelphia Media Network (PMN), which runs all three of the outlets, to the nonprofit Institute for Journalism in New Media, part of the Philadelphia Foundation. The institute will be headed by a board composed mostly of journalism school deans and academic and foundation executives." If this works, we could definitely see more of our newspapers headed the same way.

[CN: Misogyny; sexual harassment] In depressing but unsurprising news: "Sixty percent of the women working in Silicon Valley experience unwanted sexual advances, according to a new survey released this week. About two-thirds of them say that these advances were from their superior. The survey called Elephant in the Valley was conducted by seven women, one of whom was a key witness in the Ellen Pao trial last year. 'The inspiration for this survey came out of the incredible conversation from the Ellen Pao and [Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers] trial. What we realized is that while many women shared similar workplace stories, most men were simply shocked and unaware of the issues facing women in the workplace,' wrote the survey's authors." A luxury of privilege.

[CN: Misogyny] Speaking of misogyny: "Sen. Bernie Sanders accused Hillary Clinton of taking an increasingly aggressive stance against him because she's nervous that he is beating her in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. 'It could be that the inevitable candidate for the Democratic nomination may not be so inevitable today,' Sanders said at the Iowa Brown & Black Forum in Des Moines Monday night." FOR FUCK'S SAKE. When has Hillary Clinton ever been "inevitable"? Considering she lost the last time she ran, I don't think Clinton has any illusions of inevitability; that's a thing the men who challenge her invent to make themselves seem more amazing than they are.

In other presidential news, President Obama says Donald Trump is a garbage person full of garbage (I'm paraphrasing): "I'm pretty confident that the overwhelming majority of Americans are looking for the kind of politics that does feed our hopes and not our fears, that does work together and doesn't try to divide, that isn't looking for simplistic solutions and scapegoating but looks for us buckling down and figuring out, 'How do we make things work for the next generation?'" I hope you're right, Mr. President!

Sad news for all you Rand Paul heads and Carly Fiorina fanatics out there! "Carly Fiorina and Rand Paul will be excluded from the main stage at Thursday's Republican presidential debate in Charleston, S.C. because of lackluster poll numbers, Fox Business Network announced Monday. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, and John Kasich will participate in the primetime debate at 9 p.m. Thursday, the hosting network announced." Can't wait!

[CN: Homophobia; transphobia] "GOP presidential hopeful Dr. Ben Carson sat down with Witherspoon Institute's Matthew Franck for an interview on the Catholic network EWTN over the weekend. He was asked about initiatives around the country to protect the rights of transgender students in schools. Carson, who said he thinks it's 'ridiculous' that LGBT people should get rights, also called LGBT people 'abnormal' who are ruining it for everyone else... 'I mean, it's beyond ridiculous that you take the most abnormal situation and then you make everyone else conform to it. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever.'" Actually, that's pretty much the exact basis for a pluralistic democracy, sir.

Whoa: "Over the last year, the solar industry added jobs twelve times faster than the rest of the economy, even more than the jobs created by the oil and gas extraction and pipeline sectors combined." Cool.

Heads-up, Star Wars nerds! "Disney and Lucasfilm are inching closer to finding their young Han Solo for the upcoming untitled Star Wars spinoff. Sources tell Variety that after seeing thousands of actors, execs have cut the list down to about a dozen actors with Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Dave Franco, Jack Reynor, Scott Eastwood, Logan Lerman, 'Brooklyn' star Emory Cohen, and 'Everybody Wants Some' actor Blake Jenner among the names making the cut." Wait a second—Dave Franco but not James Franco?! Come on. Everyone wants to see Han Solo kiss himself in a mirror. That's just science.

[CN: Moving GIFs at link] And finally! "26 Questions Every Cat Owner Has Asked Themselves." Facts.

On #KissAGingerDay

[Content Note: Appearance mockery; bullying; hostility to consent.]

Twitter informs me that today is #KissAGingerDay. Oh.

Well, as you know, every day is a day for kissing a person with red hair at Shakes Manor, even if that hair is a little more white these days.

But because I'm the Most Humorless Feminist in all of Nofunnington who has to take the fun out of everything, I just want to make a couple of observations about #KissAGingerDay, some of which we've discussed previously in comments over the years.

1. Don't kiss anyone without their consent. Ever.

2. Language matters, and not everyone with red hair wants to be called "a ginger." (As opposed to "a person with ginger hair," which I grant would have made for an unwieldy hashtag, though that's not an argument for using problematic language.) Though one might argue "a ginger" functions the same way as "a blonde" or "a brunette," there is some cultural context to ginger, especially in certain parts of the world, that differentiate it. The actual equivalent would be "a redhead."

3. That aforementioned culture context includes anti-ginger prejudice, worse in some places than others, especially where "ginger," or its derivative "ginge," is used to refer primarily to people with natural red hair, very fair skin, and freckles. Lots of people who fit this description are bullied for their appearance, as children and sometimes as adults, and must navigate things like magazines running polls about whether readers would "fuck a ginge."

4. Thus, a number of people with ginger hair and/or features find it upsetting to be called "a ginger" or "a ginge" (again, separate from "a person with ginger hair"), as it may remind them of trauma associated with appearance-based mockery. It's not a neutral word for everyone.

If you're a person with ginger hair who thinks all of this is a bit silly and overwrought, because you don't care about being called a ginger, please remember that every person's lived experience is unique. Maybe it's not that other people with ginger hair are oversensitive and too delicate for the world; maybe it's just that you got lucky to escape what they suffered, or had access to better resources for healing from it.

Stop ICE Raids

[Content Note: Immigration raids; violence.]

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been conducting aggressive raids to deport Central American families who are undocumented refugees, and now all three Democratic candidates have spoken out against them:

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called on Monday for an end to raids by U.S. officials to deport undocumented Central American families, saying they were divisive and sowing fear in immigrant communities.

Breaking with President Barack Obama, Clinton condemned the raids carried out by the Department of Homeland Security and released a plan that she said would help protect Central American families seeking asylum.

"I do not think the raids are an appropriate tool to enforce the immigration laws. In fact, I think they are divisive, they are sowing discord and fear," Clinton said at the Iowa Brown and Black forum on minority issues.

Rivals for the Democratic nomination Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley have both spoken out against the raids, and participated in the forum.

...Sanders said the United States should be careful in deporting the undocumented back to potentially unstable situations in Central America.

"We have a moral responsibility. What refugee status is about is to make sure that people are not forced to return to communities where their lives may be in danger," he told the forum.

Of course, many of the undocumented refugees have been refused refugee status, despite the fact that they are fleeing violence and, in many cases, certain death if they return.

As I mentioned last week, the ICE raids are being fought on many fronts, including advocates asserting (quite rightly, in my estimation) that the raids are not even legal, given that many of the Central American refugees targeted in the immigration raids "are disabled, as defined under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973," as they are trauma survivors likely to be "grossly re-traumatized by ICE raids."

One hopes that now all of the Democratic candidates have condemned the raids, it will result in better policy. Provided that any one of them who gets the nomination wins the presidency.

When you hear people saying there's not a damn bit of difference between the two parties, they can only say that with a straight face because issues like ICE raids, which have a massive impact on the lives of so many people, don't get much attention in the mainstream news, since the people affected aren't considered newsworthy. There is a huge difference between the candidates of both parties on this issue. And it matters.

Commenting Policy Updates

1. This has been added to the Disqus Commenting at Shakesville section: "No GIFs. Some GIFs can trigger tonic clonic (convulsive) seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy. They can also make threads difficult to navigate for people with visual processing disorders. For these reasons, please do not post GIFs in comments."

Relatedly, as a general rule, please avoid posting videos in comments unless they are highly relevant to the topic, because moderators don't always have time to watch videos to assess their compliance with the commenting policy.

2. Disqus has enabled users to delete their own comments, and, since we've already run into an issue with it, I have updated the commenting policy in the Guidelines section thus: "If you leave a comment that obliges a response from the moderators and/or other commenters, and then delete that comment, it may be republished to provide context. Contributors are accountable for every word we leave in this space. Commenters should hold themselves to the same standard. That means we all must be thoughtful about what we're posting and must be willing to be accountable for those words. If the mods are to be trusted to remove comments that keep other people unsafe, we must be allowed to restore comments to keep ourselves safe."

Now would probably be a good time for everyone to review the Commenting Policy generally.

As it's a new year, and as it's been a long time since we had a discussion about this, I also want to remind commenters, as it states in the Commenting Policy, that "participation here requires that you respect and remember that this space is built and its content authored by individual people. In a space dedicated to social justice, we believe it is important to center the humanity of both its users and its architects." Mods are not robots who filter comments without cost or emotion.

I also want to say, plainly, on my own behalf, that demanding to use my space however you want to use it, while simultaneously seeking to disallow me from having control over it, is dehumanizing garbage. I am not a content-generating machine with zero feelings or agency.

You trust and expect me to respect you; I would like the same in return.

Carry on.

Open Thread

image of the color zaffre

Hosted by zaffre.

Question of the Day

Suggested by Shaker Laurakeet: "It's an oldie but a goodie: How did you get your online name/username? If it's not different than your everyday name, how did you decide to use that and not a pseudonym?"

Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

Ben Folds Five: "Magic"

The Monday Blogaround

This blogaround brought to you by shoes.

Recommended Reading:

Kevin: [Content Note: Assisted death; cancer] My Right to Die

Shane: Why Do We Need Activism?

Ragen: [CN: Fat hatred] Drive-By Fat Shaming

Jenn: [CN: Police brutality; colonialism; descriptions of violence] Hawaiian Man Files Lawsuit After Being Beaten by Police Officer for Praying Over Monk Seal

Katie: [CN: Transphobia] Dear Ricky Gervais, Trans Women Are Not a Joke

Victoria: [CN: Racism] Sylvester Stallone Won Golden Globe for Creed, Forgot to Thank Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan

Cory: The Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon Was Better Than It Had Any Right to Be

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

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Zelda the Black and Tan Mutt lying on the couch, with one paw angled so it looks as though she's doing a 'talk to the hand' gesture

NOPE. Talk to the paw.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Union-busting] Fuck: "The Supreme Court left little doubt Monday where it stands on the issue of requiring all workers in a bargaining unit to help support its public employees union: It's ready to strike the requirement down. The court's more conservative justices sharply criticized the current system whereby public employees in 23 states and the District of Columbia must contribute to the cost of collective bargaining, even if they disagree with their unions' demands on issues involving public policy. ...The case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, represents a major threat to public employee unions. Memberships in all unions have been in decline since the end of World War II, when 35% of American workers were in unions. By 2014 that number had dropped to just 11%."

[CN: Sexual violence; guns] Goddammit: "Four teenagers were in police custody in New York on Monday and a fifth suspect was being sought in connection with an alleged group rape of an 18-year-old woman in Brooklyn. The NYPD said two teenagers surrendered and two were apprehended. Charges were pending against the 14-year-old, 17-year-old, and two 15-year-old suspects. Authorities said the victim was accosted on Thursday night as she and her father walked inside Osborn playground in the Brownsville section. Police said one of the suspects pointed a gun at the father and told him to leave. Authorities said each man raped the woman. The attackers had already fled when the father returned with two police officers." I hope this survivor has access to the resources she needs to heal and will get something that looks like justice, however she may define it.

[CN: War on agency; racism; appropriation] Rage seethe boil: "The flurry of anti-choice proposals coming in the 2016 Missouri legislative session includes one policy that appropriates the Black Lives Matter movement to create a so-called personhood law designed to effectively end legal abortion in the state. ...HB 1794, sponsored by Rep. Mike Moon (R-Ash Grove), would establish the All Lives Matter Act, an example of what activists view as anti-choice legislators using the Black Lives Matter movement for their own restrictive agenda. It would amend state law to define a fertilized egg as 'a person' and life as beginning at conception."

[CN: Worker exploitation] And from the race to the bottom: "Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Gov. John Kasich doesn't think employers should be required to let their workers take paid time off for a new baby or serious illness. At a town hall on Friday in Hampton, New Hampshire, he was asked what he thinks about paid family leave. Rather than a government mandate ensuring that all Americans can take paid leave, Kasich said instead it should be 'up to employers to try to be creative about this,' reports The Columbus Dispatch." Oh fuck off.

The White House is now on Snapchat. If you give a shit.

Gallup: "Democratic, Republican Identification Near Historical Lows." Gee, I can't imagine why, what with the awesomeness emanating from these two institutions on the daily.

Hmmmmmmm: "Physicists around the world were puzzled recently when an unusual bump appeared in the signal of the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, causing them to wonder if it was a new particle previously unknown, or perhaps even two new particles. The collision cannot be explained by the Standard Model, the theoretical foundation of particle physics."

"In 1977, there was no positive gay imagery in American culture. No movies or television shows had gay characters. 'Coming out' was not a thing. I had no idea what homosexuality was. So...Luke became my boyhood hero, my role model. He was someone who feels different and has a secret, like me. Luke learns to accept who he is and achieves great things."

And finally! "People Stick Their Head Through a Hole and Are Surprised with Puppies." As advertised.

Quote of the Day

[Content Note: War on agency.]

[Quoted bit runs from 55:32 to 57:10 in the above video.]
"I want you to know where I stand. First of all, I will always defend Planned Parenthood. And I will say, consistently and proudly, Planned Parenthood should be funded, supported, and appreciated, not undermined, misrepresented, and demonized. I believe we need to protect access to safe and legal abortion, not just in principle but in practice. Any right that requires you to take extraordinary measures to access it is no right at all. Not when patients and providers have to endure harassment and intimidation just to walk into a health center. Not when making an appointment means taking time off from work, finding childcare, and driving halfway across your state. Not when providers are required by state law to recite misleading information to women in order to shame and scare them. And not as long as we have laws on the book like the Hyde Amendment making it harder for low-income women to exercise their full rights."—Hillary Clinton, in her speech accepting Planned Parenthood's endorsement.

ETA. Via Aphra, here is Planned Parenthood's statement on why they chose to endorse Clinton. It's not because Sanders isn't good on reproductive rights; to the contrary, he is! It's just that Clinton is even better.

Republicans Think People Aren't Entitled to Food

[Content Note: Class warfare; food insecurity.]

Jeb Bush thinks people aren't entitled to food:

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is calling for an end to the federal food stamp program as part of a proposed revamp of the nation's welfare system.

Bush would end the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, generally known as food stamps, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Instead, state governments would be able to apply for new federal "Right to Rise" grants to pay for programs launched to assist lower-income residents.

"I know that giving states more flexibility will open the door for transformative ideas to eliminate poverty and increase opportunity," Bush wrote in a document outlining his plan released Friday morning.

Bullshit. It will open the door for Republican-controlled state legislatures to deny even the most paltry government support to people who desperately need it.

The Golden Globes

[Content Note: Transphobia; rape.]

Last night was the Golden Globes, and I didn't watch, because Ricky Gervais was hosting and I don't like rape jokes. Nor transphobic jokes, which I hear there were a lot of, too. What a super fun person he is.

This was the sum total of my Golden Globes tweeting:

image of a tweet authored by me reading: 'Flipped to Golden Globes for one second; saw Paul Feig fake-laughing at something; figured it won't get any better than that; turned it off.'

image of a tweet authored by me reading: 'So Ricky Gervais just introduced Mel Gibson with a Bill Cosby rape joke? Yeah, that sounds about right. ' and accompanied by the image of a dumpster fire

Anyway. The complete list of winners is here. Please feel free to discuss the winners, the losers, the broadcast, how terrible Ricky Gervais is, or whatever.

RIP David Bowie

black and white image of David Bowie performing decades ago, with his arms in the air

Three days after his 69th birthday and the release of his final album, Blackstar, David Bowie has died after a long battle with cancer. His obituary in the Guardian is here. His New York Times obituary is here.

My condolences to his wife, Iman, to their daughter, Alexandria, to his son, Duncan, and to the rest of his family, his friends, his colleagues, and his fans.

Iain was up and out of the house very early for work this morning. He woke me by texting to ask: "Have you heard about Bowie?" I knew the only thing there could be to hear, and I just sat totally frozen for a moment, hoping I was still asleep.

I have a lot of feelings. I don't really feel like writing about them. The man who fell to Earth has fallen away.

Open Thread

image of the color yellow

Hosted by yellow.

The Virtual Pub Is Open

image of a pub Photoshopped to be named 'The Shakesville Arms'

[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]

TFIF, Shakers!

Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!