It's Memorial Day, and I'd just like to tell everyone to honor the sacrifices of those who died for them, and also, the sacrifices of those who live for them. Not only the soldiers, who were heroic, and helped when we had to reach for the last resort, but everyone who died and lived for us. For me, I think of the people who died for me to have civil rights, and those who put themselves in danger today for me to have the right to choose. I think of those who say NO! to hate and intolerance, even though it's not the 'trend'. That's a sacrifice too. I think of those who battled big business, and gave their lives to unionize, and give us the protection we enjoy. I remember all of those who resist our consumer culture telling them they are what they buy and those who resist the beauty standards forever telling you that you are not enough.

Why do I mention all of those who have lived for us? Because, as hard as it is to die for us, it's even harder to live for us. You can only die for us once, but you have to live for your cause every day if you live for it, and the people you help with your cause. I fear I am not that noble- that I can't be that brave. However, I'm sure that the heroes that made our country great- the people who worked so that everyone could have its bounty- probably didn't think of themselves as heroes. So remember that all heroes aren't in the past, and that we can change things, even if it doesn't seem like it.

I'm enjoying watching my Sailor Moon boxsets. I think it's really appealing because it is a fantasy, and so it can have values, without getting too heavy handed. Usually when we think of values, we think of religion, which is pretty much dead as a source of real authentic values. Maybe it's geography, but mostly I see churches too weak to reach out to their gay brethren, churches focusing on 'don't have sex' messages, rather than the real dilemmas that shape our real lives, and churches that are mostly focused on waving the finger, not helping their fellow man.

However, in Sailor Moon, the idea that friendship and romantic love are the most important things in life are easily dramatized. Need to talk about friendship? Well, the heroines' friends sacrificed their lives to save hers, and their spirits guide her to defeat the enemy. Want a little love there? Well, the enemies learn to love and thus, save the world! Of course, if this happened in a realistic setting, it would seem much flatter than it is, because real life doesn't really have as much drama, and the dilemmas we face can not be wished away with a "Moon Princess Elimination".

We should try to find values in our own lives, but strive to embody the positive sides of those values. The side of personal responsibility that says "I can choose not to be rude", not the side that says "It's your fault if I am rude". The side of charity that gives freely, not the side that says "Well, it makes me look good", and so on.

I don't want to sleep, so I'll blog about something really stupid. My breasts have gotten bigger. I was reading on fark about Britney Spear's breasts, and so I started to think about my own, and they felt bigger. I looked, and hey, they were. I wonder why suddenly my weight gain went to my boobs instead of my hips and thighs. Strange fluke.

The post before this was my 666th post. But now for funny people campaigning for Kerry. Some comics artists are drawing custom art as a benefit for the Kerry campaign. Looks like a cheap way to get original art. Also, here are photos of people with humorous anti Bush panties. I like the "Weapons of Mass Seduction" style.

Peggy McIntosh's much seen essay on white privilege is a good companion for this piece. Here are some more signs of white privilege-

1)Any little gripe you have is afforded importance, while real problems of other races are ridiculed. For example, the fact that there is a NAACP is 'racist', yet the calls that many blacks make to have people not call them names like the n word is just 'silly'.

2)Your culture's past is remembered, but every other culture is supposed to be forgotten about. For example, people may be all for teaching 'American Values' with George Washington and the gang, but oh, they'll gripe about 'multiculturalism'- because we know you have to have pale skin and a penis to do anything important.

3)You think that(real) racism is only a problem for the other races out there. By real racism, I mean actual racism, not "I can't say the n word or people will look funny at me!". For example, you think that black men getting beaten in the streets doesn't affect you.

4)You think one episode of the Cosby show watched when you were five qualifies you as an expert on racial relations.

5)You think the abridgment of much white privilege is racism against whites, and that you somehow deserved the privilege. Yes, there are now laws to protect people from being terrorized. If you hadn't been #4, you'd realized that the attacks on minorities were not just an attack on that one person- it was to scare all the others, too. Not to mention, just having pale skin shouldn't give you so much power, anyway. You didn't do anything to get it.

6)Your race isn't pathologized. I was looking up information for my sociology of law paper, and I ran across a paper* about how black crime is thought of in terms of blackness- for example, thinking of crime as somehow a thing that was caused by blackness, rather than just being a criminal asshat, or studying black crime using a white 'baseline', but not white crime using say a asian 'baseline.

There is much more, but I'll leave you with a link to Orinicus, which is covering white hate in schools, and young people.

*for those interested in this paper, the author is Jeanette Covington and it was published in the Sociological Forum, Volume 10 Number 4, dated December 1995. I trust this is enough information to help you search for it.

It seems that Kochalka's big collection of his American Elf comic strips is coming out in July! 520 pages of pure comic goodness. It sounds like a perfect toilet book to me too, because you could just flip to a strip and have a quick laugh or a nice moment and get on with the day. Although, I feel a bit of a dilemma on hardcover or softcover. Hardcover is more expensive, but softcover spines break more easily, which is a problem in a book this size, or even any books at all.
My copy of Life of the Party has a broken spine, and while no pages are falling out, it is still fairly annoying. This is not a large book- it is 96 pages.

History is pretty important. For example, to understand why there are unions today, and why they are important, you will have to reach into the past. The 8 hour day, and many other benefits we take for granted were actually paid for with blood. There are new battles today, such as the need for affordable health care, and a desire for job security, which are issues that seem to be behind the strike of the SBC workers.

I think the R card is a great idea. Some kids are simply going to be more mature than others, and some people just don't think some "R rated" material is that shocking, compared to the real world. For example, the classic Do The Right Thing is R rated, but has much socially redeeming value for a bright 15 year old to grasp. While many R rated movies may just have pointless violence and sex, some of the best movies are R rated, because there is an assumption that if you're watching an R rated movie, you can handle complicated concepts. While you can do complex concepts on a G rating, film makers tend to assume that only films for kids can be G rated, which is sad IMO.

History Lessons

It's pretty hard to make informed decisions about anything without knowing history. The rhetoric is fast and furious, and the claims come just as fast. What the candidates were doing in Vietnam has even been brought up as a campaign issue. So only having a memory limited to the last ten years, with most of the important parts left out is no way to go through life.

Here are some historical tidbits. Many people do not know this, but in the 1960's, the Republican(which used to be voted for by blacks as an exclusive party, when they could get to the poll box, party of Lincoln and all) and the Democratic Parties switched ideologies.

Also, when abortion was illegal, some women did not just have the baby, and stand up in church with the father or adopt it out to a rich family. Some instead went to abortionists or tried to abort themselves. Here is an excerpt of a book about this.

How To Make Yourself Look Like a Bigot


Common Sense isn't very common. For all the talk about tolerance, some people just don't get it. Here are some ways you may brand yourself intentionally or unintentionally as a bigot. Hard indications are #1 and #5. Hard means that there is a 90% possibility that you don't have good sense, and are a bigot. The rest are soft indications- you might be, but you may just be blind to white privlege.

1)Wear confederate flags. To you, it may mean the your Southern heritage, but to the rest of us, you simply seem disrespectful. Symbols are not value neutral- through association with the KKK, and segregationist, the Confederate battle flag has become a symbol of hate, and so when you wear it, it's kind of like wearing a big swastika, it might have been a good luck sign before, but it's been perverted so much, that just wearing it becomes a symbol of disrespect. If you respect others enough to not wear that, respect others enough not to wear the confederate flag. If not.. people will think you're a bigot.

2)Whine about 'political correctness'. Since political correctness has been stripped of all meaning, but people who gripe against it are usually whining because they can't use derogatory terms without disapproval,this is a soft sign. When coupled with griping because someone had to give an insulting fake apology ("I'm sorry anyone was offended"- way to take responsibility) this is a much harder sign.

3)'Personal Responsibility'- another soft sign. Just recognize who you are telling to take responsibility. Is it always the Other- for example- saying to cut public funds for food for young kids because minority + poor moms need to take 'personal responsibility' but not minding welfare for corporations who don't do a good job. Do you always see the problems of one race as problems of 'responsibility' across the entire?

4) "Reverse Racism"- this sign is somewhat soft, but is harder than some others. This word assumes that racism against whites is some horrid aberration, needing a new term. Also, this usually goes along with non reality based whining about 'oppression'. This is using white privlege here, since you're allowed to ignore real problems, hijack productive discussion, and also get the 'street cred' of victimhood without even the possibility of real harm coming. Clue: oppression is way more than getting a funny look when you say the n word.

5)Christian Idenitity and other White Power/supremacy groups- Very hard sign. The whole idea about White Power is not about having pride in your own culture- it's about keeping power. To explain this, a bit more racial theory is needed. These groups seem to think that they have some sort of special biology that makes them better than non whites. Race isn't a biological thing. For example, different places have different race rules. In the US, black heritage was considered so strong that just 'one drop' could make you black. However in Brazil, many people we consider black wouldn't be considered black. Also, variation within races is greater than variation between them.

Also, in the past, people we now consider white, weren't. Even though the Irish shared the pale skin of whites, they didn't get their full privileges of whiteness until sometime after the first Irish arrived. Whiteness is thus not just about phenotype. It's always been about power- before, laws regulated the power of whites,creating segregation legally, and by custom, causing a blind eye to be turned to anti black violence, but now, we have a subtler power accorded to whiteness- for example, Horowitz the attention whore(who I believe is Jewish- not considered white by some other race rules) can get his whining considered seriously, but try to have a black talk about oppression, and the belitting just doesn't stop. Black calls for sorry or even reparations are called 'silly' and framed as 'money grubbing blacks" , despite the US' ability to mea culpa for internment.

These groups believe that whiteness entitles them to this power- that is why there is the fear of being outbreeded, the fear of equality for others, and the use of violence to achieve their goals sometimes. Whiteness isn't a culture except as an amalgamation of peoples who may or may not have been considered white in the past, and also, their rhetoric does not focus on their own, but rather the 'protection' of the white race.
Speaking of Irish people, I have an anecdotal example of what I am talking about. I knew a girl who was really into her Irishness- spoke Gaelic,etc, but she wasn't a white pride type- quite the opposite- she could appreciate black culture(especially writers) as well. That's non pathological, the pathological type is mutually exclusive with the enjoyment of other cultures that aren't 'white'.

6)Complain about all the 'unimportant' subjects taught in school (or 'multiculturalism'). If books by white authors can be taught, why not black authors? If white history can be taught, why not history that includes everyone who built America? I mean, there's no magic chemical in melanin that makes you unable to write good prose, or even great literature. Blacks, Mexicans and other types of Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asians have all helped build our country- so what makes their achievements less important?

7)"unqualified people" (affirmative Action) This is based on the stereotype of the stupid and lazy Negro. The idea that black skin makes you inherently unqualified is pretty confusing. Also, non reality based assertions are a common part of the toolbox of the bigot. I realize that it's pretty comforting to believe that the reason you can't get ahead if blacks, but come on.. It's pretty easy to believe that just because a black got 'your' (see the sense of entitlement?) job, that they got in because of AA, because you simply do not consider the fact that blacks can be qualified for jobs.



There are many other signs hard and soft, but I shall adjourn.

Instead of working on my resume, I'll talk about society's problems. One is dickless men. Dickless men are violent. Dickless men whine about how only jerks get sex. Dickless men want women barefoot and preggers. Dickless men think that because they can't talk at length about how they'd like to do their secretary on the table in front of her, America is now a terrible freedomless state. Not all dickless men do all these things, but the reason why they are called dickless is that they are weak.

They can't handle change, they can't handle rejection without bitching up a storm, they just can't handle anything. They have to go up and try to base themselves on a fake ass image of masculinity rather than be a real man. A real man has control- control of himself. He doesn't make weak ass excuses like "her skirt was short, I just had to rape her" He doesn't go around abandoning his kids. He doesn't just give money either, he gives love and time. A real man can keep cool when it's needed, and show emotion when it's needed. They don't need to be hard all the time, because they are secure. For a real man, he's so secure, he doesn't have to have his women be less. He encourages them to be all they can be. He doesn't think he is threatened if others have power, because he knows he has power- the power in himself to live up to his potential.

Yes, this real man is an ideal, but we can strive for our ideals, and work for them. That's what makes us tough people.

A Change Gon' Come...

Change is a constant. That's why I can't understand why people are so scared of it. Our society is changing, it's always been changing, maybe we're changing a bit for the better. People always complain about change, but what's the point, it's just gonna come. People are always running back, trying to recapture a past that just didn't even happen.

Where is that utopia before black rights, gay rights, women's rights? I don't know, but from reports from people who lived it, it didn't exist. I sometimes wish we could go back to the time that the only thing we worried about is the President's dick, but that time can never come back. Our dreams of the past are way different than it was, anyway. I was a young teen then, and I wouldn't go back to that age for anything.

We have to go forward. That utopia we are dreaming of may never exist. If we keep crying for the past, we guarantee that it'll never come to us. Of course, the ones crying for the past are the ones who I want their dreams to never come true. I got my n word wake up calls, but I don't wanna die for looking at people funny or not be able to (in theory) get a job that uses my abilities. I've never been pregnant, but I don't want to go back to the days when people took dangerous herbs or used all manner of horrors to remove a fetus. I'm not a practicing gay, but I'm glad that now they are able to get married. More happiness can be spread that way, and when I finally have kids, and they get my age, they'll look at me, and laugh when I say that once gays couldn't get married, much as us today see the idea of multiracial marriage being banned as laugh worthy.

Our upheavals will seem so petty in the future. When at least white supremacy is truly killed, the children will laugh at the history books, saying that folks complained that black history was learned in college, and they'll laugh at the books once saying that white men thought that having schools with ten percent blacks in them was a threat. They'll be howling when we tell them about how people were scared of queer theory- hhahahaa, mama, they'll say, they really were scared to see if books said anything about gays? They'll cry with laughter when we tell them that seeing how women were portrayed in books was considered the end of all civilization!

Our foolish fears and foolish pride will all be laughed at in the future, so why don't we start laughing now?

Sorry for the extreme amount of blogging today, but Matt Thorn has penned a new essay on manga, and since intelligent views on manga are pretty rare- mostly there is company hype and reviews that consist solely of 'bishie bishie bishie!" and 'it was SOOOOOOOO coooool!", maybe there will be some well written apologetics that tie an entire series together. I think us manga fans have to try a bit harder,eh?

Also, finally someone tells people what shoujo manga are and are not. I get sick and tired of people calling Maison Ikkoku shoujo, because apparently men just can't read a romance story unless the protagonist is falling into someone's clevage all the time.

Bring on the misogyny. Apparently, rpgs, sims, card games online, puzzle games, and any other games that someone without a penis actually plays are not 'real games'. I fail to see why just because 'stay at home moms' may enjoy a game makes it not a real game. To me, a video game is a game played on a computer based machine. It's content neutral as to what the game is about- it could be matching gems of various colors or it could be about splattering the brains of your enemies on the wall.

Not to mention that there are girls and women playing games about splattering brains across walls, but many may enjoy other types of games that are just as valid. I think the inclusion of different gaming styles does make gaming a more viable hobby and puts it into the mainstream.

Not everyone has hours and hours of time to blast people into oblivion, so a short puzzle game will fit into their life style. Others may want a creative game with more player input than what gun to use. Many people want more social games, and that's where games like Mario Party come in. We don't insist that the only 'real books' are spy novels, so why do we insist that FPS are the only 'real video games'?

It seems that Fantagraphics has a coup in the Complete Peanuts. It's on the New York Best Seller list, and so I hope that Fanta can put the extra money behind more art comics. This seems to be at least twelve years without money worries, if they play their cards right, and without money worries, more new artists can be taken on, and more old artists can continue to be archived.

Fantagraphics has always been a leader in that field, and more art comics means the advancement of comics in my view. I'm not saying that comics don't need manga and Oni press(the real mainstream in my parlance) or even superheroes, but we also need to stretch beyond what comics we have made in the past, and go towards the future.

Yesterday, I mastered the art of the double afro puff. First, I washed my hair and took down my twists. Then I parted my hair down the middle. Then, taking two very large elastic hair holders, I twisted one like a figure 8, and put half around one half of my hair. Then, I put the other half around the same half again. Using the other hair holder, I repeated the process.

As many blog readers know, I am strongly anti racist. This is of course because of the values I hold dear. I admire hard workers, even though I know society has different ideas(it's not the girl holding down two jobs to make the rent and feed her baby that is admired). So when folks wanna sit down and talk about black folks without doing the work, I get pissed. Know why folks don't want you to say the n word, we didn't just come out of the sky to annoy you.

Also, a note about racism. Folks don't have to be saying n word to your face for you to be bothered about it. You see it in their assumptions, in their words and actions, and it hurts. You see other wise well intentioned folks parroting that sort of garbage rhetoric, and it hurts. You see folks assuming you are less than, when all you got is a problem(just like anyone else) and dark skin. You worry about where you can live where the racism isn't as upfront. You see movies and TV shows defaming your race, and you read editorials in the newspaper about how all your race are just making things up, while giving sympathy to people who haven't experienced anything near discrimination. (as I call it, comparing a hang nail to the holocaust. ) Also, I note how bad stuff that happens to other folk is respected. I used the Holocaust, because the horror of the Holocaust is sacred. But talk about slavery, a time period in which millions died(although less efficiently), and folks act like it's no big deal, that we should be glad that at least we're not in Africa(and that's real rhetoric too)

Not to mention, no one ever really whines about being made to feel guilty about the Holocaust. Germany didn't whine about this, when they were bitch slapped back into sanity, they decided that Nazism was evil, but here we are today, still trying to pretend that slavery was benign. People whine because people want them to be cognizant of their privilege I try to be cognizant of my privilige(I'm not poor, and I'm a girl, so I don't have to worry about being masculine) and don't gripe about it.

Yea, I don't get the satisfaction of talking about how the poor are all lazy and stupid, but to tell the truth, even like whites who admirably try to rise above their privilege, I still have it. People try to pretend it was done away with, and now they have negative privilege- bull and shit.

Warning, NSFW. A pretty picture of women who look like actual lesbians. Strange that a picture that looks so real is out on the net. Also, (SFW) a page on Asian racial issues, and an angry Asian man completes this link potpourri.

Here is a funny post written by a "Pete Turk" and posted on usenet:



-------------- Press Release --------------------------

The Whiners' Club of America (WCA) announces that it
will offer the following free memberships:

------------
Basic Level:
------------

One reference to "jerks get sex, nice guys don't".
Any general explanation for this phenomena accepted.

This level of membership will entitle you to lifetime
membership into the Whiners' Lounge, or until you lose
your virginity ... whichever comes first.

--------------------
Silver Club Members:
--------------------

To get this level you need:

The creation of a general theory of women's behaviour
or attitude. This theory can be based on either imagined
or actual experiences.

No verification of this theory is required.

The rewards of this level is lifetime membership in the WCA,
that does not expire at the loss of virginity.

However, if feelings of bitterness subside, or the theory
has not been actively discussed in a 3-year period, the silver
club membership will be revoked.

------------------
Gold Club Members:
------------------

To get this level you need:

A fully developed general theory of women's behaviour and
attitudes with rationalisations and justifications;

No date in the preceding 1 year;

Have not approached any women for dates or conversations
in 3 months;

As a reward you receive membership to the Whiners' Lounge.

However, the WCA cannot guarantee against ridicule, disdain,
disbelief, disrespect, contempt or any other emotion that
may be expressed in the member's direction.

Finally we have the:

***********************
Platinum Level Members:
***********************

To get this level you need:

A fully developed general theory of women's behaviour and
an attempt to fit _any_ situation into the theory regardless
of the evidence.

Sexual History or sexual attempts are irrelevant.

Revocation is at the discretion of the member.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


The WCA was set up to provide a warm comfortable meeting place
for men to relax and exchange ideas. The WCA is proud of its
distinguished role in society. We are located all over the
country.

Look in the yellow pages for a club near you.

Signed the President ...


======== end of press release ==============================

Critical Consciousness is important. By which I mean a combination of empathy, a bullshit detector and intellectual curiosity. This is very important, but it's not taught anywhere. There are a lot of books to help, as critical consciousness is more of a book person thing- a person who is unreflective can't have critical consciousness as a matter of fact. A person without critical consciousness merely absorbs the dictates of the culture without thinking about it. If fat is declared evil(everything is thought of as having a moral dimension nowadays), you don't think "What about my mom, is she evil?" or "They say 60% are overweight- can all these people really just be bad people?", no, you jump on the band wagon and start flinging the hate.

A lack of critical consciousness can lead to the blame game.
The blame game is totally useless. If you say that "It's your fault you were raped, you shouldn't have shaved your pubes"(WARNING!!! Link is really graphic, really disturbing to people with any humanity at fucking all) or "Man, you're fat! It's because you eat like a hog, you fat pig" , nothing changes. Maybe someone's life is ruined, but the problem doesn't stop. Not to mention, it's near impossible to build community unless you learn to drop it at some time. For example, if your partner is tired, comes home from a long day, and doesn't clean up their room, if you start yelling about how lazy they are, and how stupid they are (blaming them, making it into a moral issue), you're going to have a fight on your hands,and enough fights, and your relationship is dissolved.

The same with the blame game in the larger society. You have to feel the people you are demonizing are truly other, that's where empathy comes in. You have to believe the lies about them, that's where the bullshit detector comes in, and you have to not be able to look for other sources, that's where intellectual curiosity comes in- you can't just grab the first hypothesis that comes to your mind, but keep searching.

I'm not saying I'm a guru, I have a hard time being tolerant of conservatives- anyone who wants to create more suffering- through forced births, racial inequality, and just the general excesses of capitalism- causes me to be angry, although I know that they are not talking about the real world, but the ideal one, or at least I hope, because it's pretty hard to pretend that no one would get pregnant just because you said sex was bad...