The next installment of The Intercept’s investigation of DuPont (my dad told me that when he was working on the floor of their nylon factory in Kingston, safety inspectors were required to give 48 hours notice before showing up, so the plant managers would just turn off 25-50% of the machines and hang “closed for maintenance” signs on them, which would get the levels of grossness in the air and the above-acceptable amount of noise down to the legal limit, then turn them back on when the inspectors left):
The documents Bilott received included studies showing that the company had known C8 could affect the livers of dogs and humans. The studies also indicated that C8 encouraged the growth of testicular tumors in rats, that exposed workers suffered more frequently from endocrine disorders, and that the company had also documented elevated rates of certain cancers, including kidney cancer, in workers. Bilott learned that the company had been quietly monitoring public drinking water outside its plant and, since 1984, had been documenting C8’s presence at potentially dangerous levels. As far back as 1991, DuPont had estimated the C8 in a stream from which cattle drank at 100 parts per billion — which was 100 times greater than an internal safety limit the company had set for drinking water. In 2001, DuPont quickly settled the Tennant case for an undisclosed sum.
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Why are movies about queer women so frequently terrible:
Shannon: Totally. I do think that many queers are just so starved for any kind of representation that seeing A-list actresses tell this story could have been a big deal to them. But can we talk about the chemistry between Jenny and Kitty?
Brittani: There was a moment they hugged and I was like, “Oh no, they’re going to act like this is a hugging moment when this is clearly a kissing moment” — but then they stopped hugging and backed away from each other and went in for a kiss and it was so awkward that I wished they’d only hugged.
Shannon: Total kiss count, of the whole film: three. Right? Three kisses.
Ellen: One of which was filmed from like 100 yards away.
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What if you’re afraid of whales?
Just Googling “whale phobia” led to page after page of confessions on web forums, personal blogs, and psychology message boards. I learned that the fear of whales has no offical name, but some people call it “cetaphobia,” from the Greekketōs, or sea monster, and phobos, or fear. Once I started looking, I found cetaphobes all over the place.
“I am terrified of whales, and I live in Illinois,” one commenter wrote on an article about cetaphobia.
“People always make fun of me because they say I’ll never see [a whale] in real life,” said another commenter from the Netherlands. “GOD NO. I’ll make sure I don’t.”
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James Wood is a genius, and I even liked his novel:
Isaac Chotiner: Has writing fiction changed the way you think about writing criticism?
James Wood: It is some time ago that I wrote a novel. I am trying to write another novel—I hope a better one—now. I don’t know that it materially affected the way I read. I think for me that the creative and critical were always very intertwined. I do think that, though I was determined to deny it in a bullish manner in 2003 and 2004 when my novel came out, perhaps it did inaugurate a slightly milder tone in my own criticism. I just became generally a bit more sympathetic to how difficult it is to write a successful novel. It didn’t mean that I stopped writing occasional negative reviews, but I think there was some demonstrable change in tone.
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Workout!
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Tips for handling a picky eater:
It’s important to build positive associations with food, so fill your child’s favorite stuffed animal with Swiss chard.
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My friend Carrie’s puppy has a fox toy:
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Deleted comment of the day:
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Tags: feminism, link roundup, the internet
What possible explanation could there be for requiring safety inspectors to give 48 hours notice besides, “giving the company time to hide all their safety violations”?
“AND ONLY YOU CAN FIX THAT.”
That commentor felt SO GREAT after finishing his rant. “I am so learn-ed. This will really make them THINK.”
The guy is just handing out truth bombs. My life is changed; I hereby vow to go out and be PRODUCTIVE.
Hahah, nevermind.
I want to know what he does for a living. My hope is that he’s a hopeless cog in a workplace machine.
He’s probably a web admin. They’re always web admins.
that explains so much about my ex.
Here’s a brief piece on the first two extremely badass women to graduate from Army Ranger school: http://www.defenseone.com/management/2015/08/meet…
Also, jeez people, let the Ayn Rand thing go. Move on.
Here’s another giving context on the process: http://rhinoden.rangerup.com/time-to-welcome-a-ne…
I cannot flingin’ flangin’ believe how many people are trying to invalidate their accomplishment. “They were immune to the peer evaluation process” – hmm, gee, do you think that’s because the school officials realized that there might be some misogyny involved if they were peered out?
Also, Ranger school is one long suck. It is rough as hell. It taxes the recovery capabilities of the students like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. Little sleep, little food, constant heavy exertion. It takes a toll. Even super-fit 30-year-olds wash out most fo the time because their bodies simply break down. So, all of that said, the dudes in the school are doing it in easy mode compared to the women. The women had it harder for the simple fact that (on average) women’s bodies produce less testosterone and HGH, and thus their recovery capabilities are not as great as the dudes. So, for anyone who says these women are anything but goddamn badasses: fuck off. They went, they saw, and they Rangered their way through.
The worst thing about Ranger school is that you can quit at any time, and they’ll whisk you out of there, never to return, no questions asked. Pushing through all 62 days with that knowledge is a hell of a mental burden Having to bear all of the slings and arrows that are coming their way now must seem laughable to these two. You go, Rangers. Lead the way.
Anyone who reads those books is NOT a specialist in letting things go.
No, it’s OK. Let the Ayn Randian people obsess at us. I find these deleted comments very entertaining. They don’t have to move on. They can stay in their rut while I point and laugh. But I understand your desire to be rid of them.
Thanks for the link! They’re awesome.
“Some people are ‘mice’ relative to others.” God, that post just keeps on giving, doesn’t it?
I kind of wish that had gotten through so I could invoke “Maus” and accuse them of being an anti-Semite for belittling mice.
also, re: whales, if one were to scuba dive w whales, which are majestic and wondrous, is it POSSIBLE for it to start feeding and for one to be sucked into its deep cavernous maw as it tries to filter plankton?
See: Jonah. See: Pinocchio.
well so far we have a 100% survival rate so at least getting sucked up by a whale is really a minor inconvenience.
WAIT—- by “survival rate” you mean that IT HAS HAPPENED IT IS A THING ON THIS EARTH THAT CAN HAPPEN?!!!
lol don’t worry. I just meant in response to the comment about it happening to Jonah and Pinocchio. I have no idea if it’s ever actually happened (well I mean except for Jonah of course because the bible is 100% true duh).
So says the tale of James Bartley: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bartley
there is this pretty amazing story here about whale-swallowings and how true they are: http://www.salon.com/2012/01/15/swallowed_by_a_wh… (contains actual description of what being eaten by a whale might be like, ick)
Yeah…I think it’s just a particular fear of being engulfed. That can give me the jibblies.
Baron Munchausen says yes!
Did no-one else read the Hal & Roger book (Diving Adventure?) where one of them got stuck in a whale’s mouth and had to escape through the gills?!
All those workouts are great band names.
RIP Trainer Rotations: House or Metal? Yes.
Happy harcore
One of my best friends from college has an inexplicable dolphin phobia, which of course means that we got her an inflatable dolphin pool toy for her birthday and hung it from her dorm room light fixture as a part of the scavenger hunt we put together.
It’s amazing she’s still friends with us.
Also, I see your puppy with fox and raise you a puppy with goose
very much hoping this leads to a long thread of puppy one-upmanship (updogship?)
Yes, please!
one pup-manship
What’s updog?
😉
and I see *your* puppy and raise you a puppy with all the toys:
(this is kinda big sorry)
ohhh he’s so CONTENT!!! <3 <3 <3
Does this adorable dog gather all the toys and place them before sleeping? I must know!
Yes!! This was taken like the first day we had him (he was our foster puppy for about a month) – after a couple hours he had taken all the toys out of the toy basket, dumped them on the chair, and fallen asleep from all the excitement.
Post ALL the puppy pics pls. K, thanx.
I’ve posted it here before, but… (slightly overgrown) puppy with a unicorn:
… is that not a duck?
That Angels & Demons longform post from yesterday is taking me forever to get through because I have to keep stopping and finding people to hug.
Ugh tell me about it. I read that a few years ago and cried at work. None of those pretty droplets falling down my face but big, sloppy sobs.
I really shouldn’t have made the decision to read that instead of accession, but it was worth it. Beautifully written and so heartbreaking.
Me too, it took me all day – it was too soul crushing to read in one go. And an upsetting reminder of how unsafe the world can be for women. Sometimes I feel like an awkward jerk for being standoffish with strange men but you never know when one might be a misogynist rapist and/or murderer. I will continue to trust no one.
Also depressing – all the people who he apparently bragged to about raping/murdering who didn’t say ‘wow – i need to call the cops’.
Sometimes I feel like an awkward jerk for being standoffish with strange men but you never know when one might be a misogynist rapist and/or murderer.
I used to wonder why, when I’d pass women on the street, I either got this sort of quick smile or avoidance of eye contact altogether. Then I did the thought experiment where I thought about what it would be like to be a woman and face that sort of daily harassment and such, and how I would react if I walked past someone like me–I’m larger than most people, and have a default facial expression somewhere between resting bitch face and Worf from Star Trek–and decided that if I saw me, I’d probably cross the street to avoid me.
It’s SO GOOD though. I like how much time is spent on each of the three women. A lot of times with true crime stuff the victims seem kind of like an afterthought and the whole thing is about the offender, so it was refreshing to see the author take the time to remind the reader, frequently, that these were real, distinct people.
I cried the hardest when they talked about Michelle protecting Christie. And Hal. Poor Hal.
I have tried to read that piece several times and every time I get about 2,000 words into it and nope out. I just don’t think my heart can take a piece that long, well-written, and with nowhere good to go.
Yesterday my kids were on the last day of their first trip ever without me and yet I still plugged my way through that story all day. Gut-wrenching. I wonder how Hal is doing now.
That also took up a good chunk of my day and haunted me at night, but it was so well-written that I’m okay with it.
I did go out on the water paddleboarding during last night’s sunset and was highly suspicious of any seemingly friendly boat enthusiasts.
I lived in the area when it was happening. So horrible.
I ADORE whales to a really bizarre degree. I love them, I think they are so cool, the day I saw whales in person off Cape Breton in a tiny boat is one of the best days of my life. But even I read that cetophobia article and started to get creeped out–whales are mind-bogglingly huge mammals that live their whole lives underwater and travel all over the world. That’s a tiny bit creepy even for whale fans like myself.
I have several whale shirts, whale earrings, and stuffed whales. I LOVE WHALES OK
I was obsessed with orcas as a kid. I blame Free Willy. I had books and stuffed animals, and the Free Willy computer game (does anyone else remember that?) and to this day I still defend them when people are all, “ORCAS ARE HORRIBLE AND CRUEL!!”
When I was about 5 I had a series of kids’ animal books and one of them was about how “killer whale” was really a misnomer/bad PR for Orcas so I made signs exhorting people to call them orcas and posted the signs all over my neighborhood. I was REALLY sad about how the Orcas were being maligned.
Let’s start the Toast “Orcas are not monsters” club.
I’m up for joining that club, haha. I mean tbf, they’re mostly just being carnivores! Dolphins can be pretty “awful” too (which actually might make sense since orcas are technically in the same family) but they didn’t get stuck with a misnomer like ~KILLER~ whales, so they get away with it. JUSTICE FOR ORCAS.
Yabut “Orca” is just Latin for “god of death” so really kind of a lateral move, nomenclature-wise.
All smart carnivores are part asshole, including (of course) us.
I grew up in Oregon during the Keiko years which means a mild Free Willy/orca obsession was my birthright (slash published in the local newspaper at least once every couple months). To this day, I always am amazed that any of my generational peers are capable of saying things like, “wasn’t there something about that free willy whale once?”
I first read this as you saying that orca slash was published in the local newspaper at least once every couple months and was really, really impressed with the newspaper of your childhood.
That would have been awesome, but alas, the media frenzy was at least mildly less speculative in nature.
For example, here is the news article written in response to the death of a Seattle marine mammal expert in New Jersey, because he was a major supporting character in Keiko’s biography: http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/05/k…
I also grew up loving orcas! I wanted to be a “trainer,” which makes me ashamed now. But when people talk about how horrible and cruel they are, I don’t even care. That’s nature! I am proud of orcas for being so good at oraca-ing!
Oh god, Free Willy. That Michael Jackson song from Free Willy still has the power to make me weepy even 22 years later.
This is because whales are amazing and great.
I really support this new trend of including pictures of Carrie Pup in every link round-up. I’m hoping for an “If Carrie’s puppy were your puppy” post by someone.
Challenge accepted.
I can promise to read the shit out of anything written on that topic.
“If Deleted Comments were your Comments”?
“If Deleted Comments were your Ex-boyfriend”?
“If Nicole’s Workouts were your Workouts”?
If Deleted Comments were Written by Your Ex?
oh god i just gave myself hives
Hey, it could be worse-
If Deleted Comments were Written by Your CURRENT partner.
IE- this horrible thing
…
“his me-time”
……..
God I felt so awful for that poor woman.
I just assume they’re all written by my worst exboyfriends, because hey– you never know!
If Nicole’s Workouts were Your Workouts you would begin with great enthusiasm and still be glad to have made the effort while being wheeled into the ER.
That’s really if they were my workouts, but you get the idea.
If Nicole’s Workouts Were My Workouts, I would think fondly upon the time back when I was in peak physical condition in college when I could have actually done all of the things, but if I was actually being honest with myself I would admit that I while there were lots of things my body was very good at back then, this sort of thing was ALWAYS the sort of thing I was terrible at, and that’s okay, we can’t all be good at everything, and at least I never have to whitewater kayak in March again.
………….. every time I inner-monologue about any intense physical activity, I always come back to “at least I never have to whitewater kayak in March again”. because, seriously, that was some bad decision making.
Yup, totally on board for this! Also … that Jezebel article … OH GOD. That is so, so sad.
Re: the James Woods interview: I read “Isaac Chotiner” as “Insane Clothier” for one delightful half-second, and now my day has peaked at 9:19 AM.
Insane Clothier Posse, a bunch of tailors in whiteface clown makeup who sew steampunk-themed clothing, should be a thing.
Fucking gussets, how do they work?
Oh wait, Insane Clothier Posse has already happened, under a different name.
I don’t know why but I get the distinct impression that the deleted comment was written by a Scientologist.
Let’s list some lesbian/lesbian-adjacent movies that are actually good:
1. Pariah
2. But I’m a Cheerleader. Endless love.
3. If These Walls Could Talk 2
4. Kissing Jessica Stein wasn’t…that bad…
5. The Kids are All Right was okay I guess?
ETA: I counted how many women featured in these films are actually lesbian and it’s like 3. Oy.
I like Fucking Amal (titled Show Me Love in the US, I believe).
Oh god I love that film. The way that she wails in despair after reading in a teen mag that raves are now unfashionable before she ever got to go to one is one of my favourite film scenes of all time.
YES THIS.
But I’m a Cheerleader! So good.
6. Bound (I think? It’s been a while, I saw in high school when my hormones were all KLAXON KLAXON LADIES DUDES WHO AM I so it’s hard to judge.)
7. Heavenly Creatures
Bound is definitely a lesbian movie.
Aimee and Jaguar. (Edited because it is terribly sad and hits all the Tragic Lesbians buttons but it has a bunch of fleshed-out women in it and even though everyone is trying to kill them they sometimes manage to have fun and/or sex.)
I thought Imagine Me & You was pretty sweet!
Ha, I was going to mention that! It’s not a great film, but it’s def one of my guilty pleasures when I feel like watching a rom com.
I can never remember if that movie was good or not, because I only saw it once. Unfortunately I can never rewatch it, partially because adultery in any movie always makes me uncomfortable, but mostly because I watched it with an ex-girlfriend and now forever associate it with her.
Election has a kind of happy ending for a lesbian teenager (after her going through much horribleness).
One of my favorite movies and favorite characters of all time!
8. LIFE PARTNERS. I was very indifferent to Leighton Meester before this movie and now I’m not.
The Watermelon Woman? I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing – not sure how this one has aged, but it meant a lot to me as a yoof.
Lesbian-adjacent reminds me of the amazing dyke character in Belle Epoque.
I <3 The Watermelon Woman.
Was coming to the comments specifically to mention But I’m a Cheerleader! Responsible for my long-standing crush on Clea Duvall (the KISSING, the sarcasm, swoooooooon) and possibly also for my (thankfully now outgrown) attraction to moody women who are kinda of mean to me but also hot. WORTH IT. That movie is hilarious and sweet and hot and I will fight anyone who disagrees with me.
YES my adolescence was divided between mad crushes on Clea Duvall and Devon Gummersall (Brian Krakow). It was a confusing time.
When Night Is Falling.
Saving Face is adorable.
Also my baby-queer self was obsessed with Gia – I used to rent it from Blockbuster and hide it under the couch cushions and watch it after my parents went to bed. Don’t know if it’s actually a good movie, but I have fond memories.
My Summer Of Love. Young Emily Blunt is the best.
not a movie, but a webseries, but: féminin/féminin. i watched the whole thing in an afternoon. it was great.
D.E.B.S.
I loved both the short and the movie! They are fun and light-hearted!
Oh, I forgot about these! Totally fun. I must rewatch them soon.
This list and the replies are very timely for me. Last week my young teenager told me that she really wants to see more movies and TV shows that are about lesbians. She’s already getting tired of all the love stories being heteronormative since she can’t relate. She would even be happy if there were just more shows that didn’t have a romance in the plot at all, but she wants things she can identify with.
I’m going to suggest a few of these to her and maybe watch a few together.
Pariah is an excellent movie, but it’s not a love story and it is INTENSE at times. Just so you know going in with your daughter.
Thanks! I would definitely check out some summaries of any movies I would recommend and/or watch with my kid to make sure it’s something she can handle. She’s fairly sensitive. And she also doesn’t want to watch anything with serious makeout/sex scenes with her MOM. EW!
Girltrash: all Night Long is a new one that came out for Netflix. It’s an into the night movie with a band of lesbians and it’s GREAT. Also where’s the Better Than Chocolate love?
Ooooh and the The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love is super sweet and adorable.
Better Than Chocolate! I watched that right after I moved to Vancouver so it was a history lesson about my new town and a fun lesbian love story all at once.
has anyone else seen “Grandma” yet? I thought that was good! Also it was nice to see a movie about an older woman (Lily Tomlin!!). Her character is moving on from the death of her wife and Judy Greer plays her new girlfriend! (This is one of several plotlines in the movie, the main plot is Lily Tomlin helping her granddaughter get an abortion.) (This sounds super depressing, but it’s not, it’s a comedy/dramedy!)
Kiss Me–which I believe is Swedish. I thought that was well done, though it also has a woman cheating on her male fiance with another woman, which is a trope I don’t really love. All lesbians will lure you bisexual/straight-ish women away from your men!
No love for “The Positively True Adventures of Two Girls in Love?”
Incredibly and I always get that confused with My Summer of Love and than am like why are they Brititsh I don;t remember them being British before my brain turns over and I go search for the correct movie on my preferred streaming service.
I haven’t seen it in years, but I thought All Over Me was pretty perfect.
Desert Hearts, as kindly recced by The Toast! A very classic romantic drama (or dramedy?) but with lesbians.
But I’m a Cheerleader, yes. Oh Clea, you broke my heart.
Also I have really been enjoying “Lost Girl”, because apparently if you are a succubus no one actually cares the gender of who you sleep with it’s more focused on if they are human or not (and if you accidentally killed them). And people the next day are more, “OMG I slept with X person!” rather than “OMG I slept with X gender!” Is just amazing to me how few fucks are given about the sexuality thing. That said, there isn’t much queer culture because it’s urban fantasy and mostly focused on the fantasy part. Also the sexy-times more specifically with two women are later in the series (but they are *actually* quite sexy).
It is not all that I would ask for, but it is such a fucking relief to watch a show with same sex relationships and not have every other scene be about coming out to someone or maybe dying (or at least, if it’s about maybe dying, it’s because of some Fae plot or Baba Yaga or being badass.)
I was mansplained the plot of the kids are alright at a bar last night, it was incredible.
It’s not the whales that are terrifying so much as THE OCEAN. It’s so deep and dark and vast and we don’t know what the hell lives down there.
Well, we know that these guys do:
THEY’VE SEEN SOME THINGS
And this guy!
vampire squid
waaaaaaaaaaaaagh
NO THANK YOU.
goblin shark
Okay, seriously, evolution? Now you’re just messing with us.
no but you didn’t even post the best/worst part about the goblin shark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh_HUIJkRzU
CHOMP CHOMP
yeah I couldn’t figure out how to do video, but I am glad someone did!
No one has a better face than the goblin shark!
PSA: Lampreys live in freshwater too. NOWHERE IS SAFE!
so does
Goliath Tigerfish!
Thats not real. Right?
if you would prefer to believe that it lives in your imagination, swimming through your dreams with its toothy maw, plumbing the depths of your subconscious for its sustenance, I guess that’s fine
I’m trying to find a good picture of the Colossal Squid, but there aren’t really any.
Because we’ve hardly ever seen one alive, in the wild.
We’ve just seen the scars that they’ve left behind on sperm whales.
yeah, the ones they’ve left when they’ve been eaten by sperm whales which are plenty terrifying on their own, thank you very much
That’s beautiful. But when I imagine encountering it in its natural habitat instead of here in my Safe Toast Place as a lovely portrait, it’s terrifying. OK, terrifying and beautiful can coexist. Something like the original meaning of awful.
The wiki article on that fish notes that it “can make nightly migrations from bathypelagic depths to near surface waters,” never going near large bodies of water again.
I AM HERE FOR CREEPY FISH PICTURES
This is my White Whale. It is called a Bering Wolffish and it’s Inuktitut name translates to Old Woman Fish. Twice (twice!!!) I got to fish the one area in Canada where a handful have been captured and every time I pulled a net in I hoped it had one in it, but no luck. Now anyone who knows me who sees this post knows this is me because it’s years later and I still can’t stop talking about it. I love you, Bering Wolffish, why won’t you love me back?
Here is how big they get!
And here is a baby! It’s actually pretty cute!
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The ocean is so scary. We don’t know everything that’s down there but I do know for a fact that it contains corpses and giant squids. I don’t get why someone would want to go to a beach to relax, every time I’ve been to a beach I get an ominous feeling.
*I don’t even like very large lakes or rivers. Moderately sized or small ones I’m fine with, as long as I can see the bottom.
ok everyone, bookmark this thread for the next time you get the urge to take to the sea.
I strongly regret opening it.
Deep water is my biggest irrational fear that I will argue is actually a perfectly rational fear. Like, any body of water that is large enough that I cannot see the bottom is scary to me because WHAT IF SOMETHING HORRIBLE IS DOWN THERE AND IT EATS ME, OR WORSE, BRUSHES AGAINST MY LEG.
I describe it as “fear of vastness” and it is 100% legit–the ocean is deep and scary. Somehow, it’s even worse to me if you can see down to the bottom, but that bottom is…very far down.
Or even if it’s not deep, just big. I even get creeped out if I’m the only person swimming laps in the pool, because there is so much quiet undisturbed water surrounding me.
Same. I have acrophobia, and I think that at the root it’s about all that empty space between me and solid ground and how tiny I am compared to it (and how helpless before gravity). Going over wide/deep water is much the same thing; I’d “fall” when I got too tired to swim, and it would be a race between drowning and getting crushed by the pressure.
I KNOW IT’S GREAT ISN’T IT 😀
Comedian Howard Kremer, who is obsessed with summer and the ocean, said something that made me feel oddly comforted about this, (paraphrase): “We don’t know what’s down in the ocean, but whatever’s down there, it’s been there your whole life so it’s fine.” He was using that to contrast with space, where if there are aliens who knows what will happen.
Isn’t it so weird that we know more about some other planets than we know about what’s in the ocean?
It is so delightfully weird, one of my favorite weirdnesses. When I was young and ambitious I wanted to be an ocean explorer but then I realized that a lot of the stuff we don’t know is deep enough that if your equipment fails you will die because you are in an environment where you could not possibly survive outside of a highly reinforced bubble. Which is also why I have never ever wanted to go into space.
We don’t know what’s down in the ocean, but whatever’s down there, it’s been there your whole life.
Waiting.
I read a decent scifi novel once that there was some large intelligence living in the bottom of the ocean that finally got pissed off at humanity and started basically sending all sea creatures to murder humans (toxic food, anything in the water was destroyed, etc).
WAS IT CTHULHU
Ha, I think it was the classic ‘fails to recognize humanity as sentient but now we’re a threat due to pollution etc so time to kill them all”. I think it was some glowly slime that had networked intelligence or something.
You are evil. I like you.
i have a romantic notion of enjoying scuba diving some day but i once went snorkeling in Cancun and i couldn’t see the bottom and i had a panic attack and GTFO of there and spent the rest of the day drinking margaritas at the bar. i apparently just can’t even with deep water and unseeable things lurking beneath my feet.
(that lamprey especially can fuck the fuck of. no thank you, sir!)
“Set an example by eating anything your child hands you.”
Ewwwwwww
For the first half of that queer women article I was like “You know Life Partners was pretty good and had lesbian Blair Waldorf being best friends with a straight woman who she doesn’t have a crush on and also a scene featuring lesbian dildo swordfights” and then they started talking about Life Partners and I was happy.
My husband shared this really interesting Op-Ed with me regarding one strand of anti-Black racism in Canada: http://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/opinion-ca…. Neither of us are Canadian and we’ve really enjoyed our visits to both Montreal and Toronto, but we’re always leery of falling into the “Canada is a progressive paradise” trap since we’re both POC.
(Also, I read Obasan back in college and it was heartbreaking to learn/read about the way Japanese-Canadians were treated during WWII. And there’s carding in Toronto. And.. so on.)
“the ‘Canada is a progressive paradise’ trap”
At least one more example: Canada’s treatment of First Nations people (or aboriginals). It is a complete, utter travesty, today and yesterday, and probably tomorrow too.
Besides at a broad societal or institutional level, Canadians have *always* been racist. They have never stopped being racist. It upsets me how much when I’ve brought up the frank remarks in newspaper comment sections, etc., I’ve been told, “Well, they’re just the fringe!” No, they’re not. These are real Canadians living all over the country. Ignoring them instead of confronting them only gives them power.
They might not be the people putting up residential schools or officers stopping people for the colour of their skin, but they believe in their inherent superiority over others for petty reasons like the colour of their skin, the language they speak, the food they eat. “Real Canadians” is a refrain I’ve heard here.
It’s all ugly and only acknowledging it will help us move forward. But it is frustrating when people don’t chose to believe it.
Oh most definitely. I was following the release of the Truth and Reconciliation reports for awhile, Jesus Christ, what a mess.
Humans! Always horrible!
Also see the Canadian equivalent of “well slavery was over 200 years ago, why can’t they just get over it?”, which is “well residential schools were over 20 years ago, why can’t they just get over it?”, which makes me want to slap people upside the head with a copy of the Truth and Reconciliation report. Empathy fail is not limited to non-Canadians.
That was an interesting link, thanks Hieu; I don’t know what today’s curriculum covers, but Quebecois Canadian history was certainly engaged in white-washing up to at least mumble years ago.
And happily the TRC report is big enough to make a really satisfying thwap upside the head.
Thank you! I’m Canadian and have been following the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S. and am always on the lookout for info on how it relates to the Canadian context.
My BFF is Japanese-Canadian (although we live in the US). Maybe I ought to read that book, thanks for the rec.
I think the truth is that every country has some form of racism, just in slightly (or totally) different flavours! The Earth is like a wonderful ice cream shop!
(please note the sarcasm on that last sentence, I’m not actually excited that human beings are so universally not great to horrible)
There is also SO MUCH erasure of POC history, specifically, Black Canadian history, in this country. Maybe because to acknowledge that there were black people in this place at that time, we would have to acknowledge that we as white people were super racist toward them and built and upheld institutions that supported that racism? It’s even worse in Quebec, what with the Quebecois movement of the early 20th century trying to appropriate the language and the struggles of the US South to make the case for their own rights and freedoms.
About the only lesbian movies I feel comfortable reccing are But I’m A Cheerleader and Saving Face.
There is a Women Laughing Alone with Salad play…. http://www.womensvoicestheaterfestival.org/plays/…
I hope Edith has these sorts of things attached to her resume. “Look! Look at what my mind has wrought!!”
Now I’m reading the wiki article on deep-sea fish and it contains the following gems:
– “Conditions are somewhat uniform throughout these zones; the darkness is complete, the pressure is crushing.” I know that feel, fish.
– “Despite their ferocious appearance, these beasts of the deep are mostly miniature fish with weak muscles, and are too small to represent any threat to humans.” NO I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT, DID THE PERSON WHO WROTE THIS EVEN LOOK AT THESE FISH
– “It is not easy finding a mate in this zone … The female anglerfish releases pheromones to attract tiny males. When a male finds her, he bites on to her and never lets go. When a male bites into the skin of a female, he releases an enzyme that digests the skin of his mouth and her body, fusing the pair to the point where the two circulatory systems join up. The male then atrophies into nothing more than a pair of gonads.” #fishmisandry
Yeah that last part about the anglerfish is pretty interesting, and I always thought would make a neat addition to some kind of story about H. P. Lovecraft’s Deep Ones, like for instance when Netflix finally hires me to write the Innsmouth original series.
I would watch that, play the spinoff videogame, and play a Call of Cthulhu tabletop RPG set in your world.
It is going to be an eerie 1930s period piece combining pre-WWII anxieties with an exploration of racism and class dynamics in a New England town where it is basically always raining. Plus, obviously, incomprehensible horrors from beneath the sea.
gimme gimme gimme
I got a real good idea to reverse Lovecraft’s seething racism and classism, and use the civilization of putrid deep sea fish monsters as a symbol of how modern systems of economic capital are predicated on white supremacy and violent predation, and furthermore how the success of the modern American middle class in the war and in the 1950s was actually about making compacts with illimitable evils!
My fiance has a crochet book with a pattern for an anglerfish (with optional added-on mate/gonads) and I have been bugging her to make it to me foreeeever.
I asked my mom to crochet me a giant squid (after seeing a pattern online), and I think she might actually do it.
Charles Stross has a novella called Equiod in his Laundry (computer nerd fights lovecraftian horrors) series that plays off the terrifying mating habits of angler fish but applies them to Unicorns. It’s a disturbing and fun read. Probably still a good read even if you haven’t read the others in the series.
I dated a guy like that once.
I think you mean #fishandry
Beat me to it! Thank you. 🙂
MAGICAL.
that is completely mesmerizing.
I think the best part is how his hat flies off.
I would laugh, but I live in Chicago and soon those leaping Asian Carp buggers are going to be EVERYWHERE in Lake Michigan.
The anglerfish fact reminds me that there is now an anglerfish dating sim. It’s called Benthic Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50wjdUWzjx0
Toast hero? http://www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefano/the-penny-d… If only I could cast that much shade on assholes who deserve it.
AMAZING.
She seems amazing!
The eyebrow raise!!!
I am so jealous of that eyebrow raise. I used to practice raising one eyebrow in the mirror when I was a kid, but never quite got it down.
To my everlasting shame, I cannot raise an eyebrow without crinkling up my nose, so it looks like I am about to have an epic sneeze. It’s in no way impressive or intimidating.
I think it’s one of those genetic things like curling your tongue? I can’t do it 🙁 But I’m happy this woman is endowed with the power, she obviously isn’t wasting it.
It’s actually not! I acquired the ability by raising both eyebrows at once and pushing one eyebrow down using my finger. If you do that over and over, you eventually can do it without the finger.
I have no practical skills, however.
When someone inevitably walks in on me practicing holding down one eyebrow and questions what I’m doing, I will blame you.
Oh my. New political crush. I think I felt that eyebrow raise in my ovaries.
ha, immediately below the whale article there’s a link to the latest handwringing over trigger warnings.
seeing that, my first thought was, “ok, did this writer not JUST explain what it’s like to be triggered? maybe we can agree that avoiding that is good?”
and then I imagined someone asking, “so, what, now we’re supposed to be warning students about WHALES? political correctness is ~~out of control!~~”
If you haven’t read Dee Barnes’ article in Gawker about Straight Outta Compton, it was amazing:
http://gawker.com/heres-whats-missing-from-straig… (Warning for violence against women.)
Short excerpt: “Accurately articulating the frustrations of young black men being constantly harassed by the cops is at Straight Outta Compton’s activistic core. There is a direct connection between the oppression of black men and the violence perpetrated by black men against black women. It is a cycle of victimization and reenactment of violence that is rooted in racism and perpetuated by patriarchy. If the breadth of N.W.A.’s lyrical subject matter was guided by a certain logic, though, it was clearly a caustic logic.
“It was so caustic that when Dre was trying to choke me on the floor of the women’s room in Po Na Na Souk, a thought flashed through my head: ‘Oh my god. He’s trying to kill me.’ He had me trapped in that bathroom; he held the door closed with his leg. It was surreal. ‘Is this happening?’ I thought.”
—
It says she’s writing a memoir called Music, Myth, and Misogyny: Memoirs of a Female MC and still looking for a publisher. I hope desperately that she finds one, because what an amazing voice. I will buy it the minute it’s out.
THat article is great. I see the backlash against her is as strong as ever, based on what I see on social media :((((
I’ve been waiting to read about this so I can give it my full attention, but do you know if she was in the group BWP? I sometimes have to bite my lip to keep from saying, “Biiiiitch, take out your Kotex!” bc of them, and that was a lot of years ago.
I’ve always wanted to know: Who mows John Galt’s lawn?
Nobody. The grass knows his inherent worth, and recognizes him as superior, and limits its height in accordance with his wishes.
a flock of WAKE UP SHEEPLE?
Grass is weak. His lawn is 8-foot-tall thistles.
Can plants grow in a gulch?
I think her idea was that everyone would do some menial job, but that they would do it with INTEGRITY, which somehow makes it better.
What is that a euphemism for?
James Woods is perfection, but his wife, Claire Messud’s, last book (The Woman Upstairs) was the worst thing I have bothered to finish in years. I hated that novel, truly loathed it, and the only joy it gave me was the satisfying THUNK sound when I flung it across the room at the end.
Also: this is embarrassing, but could someone Workout 101 me Nicole’s whiteboard? I understand the exercises, but what do the numbers at the top mean?
I think that you would do each exercise for 1:15, twice through, followed by 1:45 of walking the track….and then do the whole shebang again. Which gives you about 30 minutes of working out (or 47 minutes, once you factor in flopping-around-and-panting time).
But what about the x10? (1:15×10 then 1:45 track walk) x 2
i THINK it means that you do one minute and fifteen seconds of each of those five exercises (ie, 1:15 of spidermans, then 1:15 of high reach… whatever— all the way through twice), THEN 1 min 45 sec of track walk………………… then repeat that whole thing again.
i think.
(& to Kai_Ko) Thank you! Total face palm – I had always assume the 1:15 number referred to a ratio of some sort.
Too Many Spidermen
#notallspidermen
I’m going to be a hundred and twenty five years old still making not all men jokes.
I’ll be 140 and still laughing at them.
And I will crush that Spider-Man…and then that other Spider-Man…and all the Spider-Men…until I’M THE SPIDERMAN
THAT is the name of my band
The Emperor’s Children is one of the worst books I’ve read in the past ten years.
Ahhhhh here I am being all unproductive, allowing a permissive and decadent society to carry my weight, it is luxury. I feel endless delight that my pampered socialist carcass is the only thing preventing the truly effective job-creators from reaping the full reward of a wealth-fueled techno-Utopia. Surely there could be no other reason.
I think the best part is how his hat flies off.
No one’s mentioned Go Fish?
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Rhik pinup-poses with a new whisk. The whisk is far less alarming than some of the objects that have been reviewed so far.
That man is so danged attractive.
I never thought I would find a man holding a whisk as attractive as I did while reading that article.
… What about Bound?
I lived in the area when it was happening. So horrible.
I am *so* surprised no one is mentioning the L-word?
(because it let us alllll down. dammit, Jenny.)
Thanks for the link! They're awesome.