More Ghostbusters trailers!

There has been an international trailer released.  It's less racist.  It adresses racism and sexism.  It got me all excited for the sisterhood and the science, like the first one.  Apparently the black actress has been receiving nasty tweets about her performance based on the first trailer.  That seems stupid as well as nasty.  Surely if there is a fault then it lies with the director guiding the actors to perform in a certain way, not the actress/actor themselves.

There has also been a fan edited trailer doing the rounds. Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IDXpOX0Cp0

I don't like it.  It takes out a lot of the science love and makes it more like the first film, and makes it a very male film - in themes and action.  It took away what made me interested in the new film.  It's a male view of the new film, and I'm sick of that.

Ghostbusters 2016 trailer

So after much blathering from the local twitterati I watched the new Ghostbusters trailer.

 - It starts with 30 years ago 4 scientists saved New York.

- I think this is the director talking to the audience line, not an in universe line.  I am unclear whether this film is mean to be in continuity, or is a reboot, or a retelling, or a remake.  This trailer leaves me none the wiser.  But I think that line is an overview of the franchise, and is speaking to the fans saying we did this film 30 years ago, now we're doing another one.
Does that make any sense?  Nearly 8 months of baby has stopped my brain working..

- Various people have said that Winston isn't a scientist so the opening line is wrong. I argue that he may not be a scientist by training but he is doing scientific stuff as part of the team, so therefore he is a scientist.

- There has been criticism about making the only non scientist (by training) a black woman.  If this is a reboot, or remake, then it's makes sense that she, like Winston, is also not a scientist.  I'm questioning whether the original film was racist, not just single out the new one.  Mind you, the introduction in the trailer did seem to make her explicitly not scientific, and potentially crass and a bit thick (the scene with the car), which is making me cringe.

- The possession scene where the black lady slaps the ghost out of one of the other women is embarrassing.

- The scene where the 4 of them are on the steps and talking over each other and sounding indecisive made me cringe a bit.

- I got a rather large thrill at seeing female scientists do science equations and be intelligent on screen.

I'd quite like to see it. I think it will be entertaining nonsense.  I love entertaining nonsense.  And monster movies.  There will be 'problematic' stuff (how I hate that word now... it's used as shorthand but rarely it is explained what exactly is the problem) and that will make me wince, but I'll hopefully enjoy the rest of it.

*goes back to watching The Big Bang Theory season 8*  *considers the ways in which this show makes me cringe*

House of M - Erik's global paradise (or not)

So I'm now reading the House of M tie-ins.  Some are better than others.  The Incredible Hulk ones are (so far) interesting.  In Incredible Hulk 84 we have some bizarre imagery:

That's the Australian government, looking suspiciously like Nazis.  In the House of M reality Erik Lensher is still a holocaust survivor.  I can't imagine him condoning the Australian's government's treatement of homo sapiens.  A view point supported by this entry in Secrets of the House of M:

Maybe I haven't read enough X-men but in my head Magneto is fighting for a fair deal for mutants, if homo sapiens are killed in this fight, fair enough, but he wouldn't approve of treating non-mutants like the Nazis treated their victims.

In this reality everyone is meant to have their heart's desire.  I don't buy that Magneto wants to enforce this level of suffering on humanity.

We are Norwich organise counter demonstration against racist EDL march

A racist fascist organisation called the English Defence League are marching in Norwich today, because they are upset that a man was selling Islamophobic, hate motivated leaflets.  Well boo fucking hoo.  It is, quite rightly, illegal to sell leaflets containing hate speech.  I was furious when I found out the EDL were marching in Norwich, and very pleased when I heard a counter march was being held by We Are Norwich.  But I'm not at the march, mostly because I heard there might be violence and I'm scared (also because I have house stuff to do, we may be moving soon).  I don't want to get caught up in the fights (if there are any).  But I'm also ashamed of myself for not going, because I'm giving in to their tactics.  If you give in to fear then they can spread and win.  That's not right.

But there you have it - I'm afeard, and I'm at home blogging about it, and not there.  I am following it on twitter though - search for #wearenorwich, and I'm very proud of my friends and everyone else who is there.

Fuck I'm still furious those bastards dare to turn up in my fucking city.  Piss off EDL.  We don't want you and we don't support you.  Go back to your poisonous little rock.

If Black Women Were White Women

I found this on tumblr recently and I found it a really really interesting read.  I can't get to the original post so I'll give you the tumblr link where I read it.
-----------------------
In “If Men Could Menstruate,” Gloria Steinem makes the persuasive argument that “Whatever a ‘superior’ group has will be used to justify its superiority, and whatever an ‘inferior’ group has will be used to justify its plight.”

For too long the definition of racism has been a fight between white and black manhood or “who’s the bigger man”, so to speak. We’ve trivialized the existence of gender between both groups of men in favor for discussion of the “bigger issue”.

This has historically enabled white female supremacy—the most unchallenged form of white supremacy—to escape any critical thought.

What if suddenly, instantly, the power of white femininity were transferred to black women?

The answer is clear: Black women would represent value, purity; and based on their natural traits would be worthy of protection and instantly become the objects of universal desire. White women would represent the opposite.

“Beauty tar potion” would become globally popular to get the “black look.” “Dove” would be replaced with a black soap called “Raven” to help exfoliate the skin and bring out subtle hints of melanin.

White female features would be declared violent. Their “jagged” thin lips, “knife sharp” noses, and “harsh” jaw lines would be nature’s way of expressing why men have a natural preference for the soft features of black women. Soft lips, soft cheekbones, and soft, round noses would be proof of natural femininity. Full, pink lips and large, dark eyes would become associated with virginal black girls whose purity must not be compromised. Black female features would thus be said to represent youth.

Straight, blond hair would be considered “wild and unruly” because when the wind blew, it did not stay in place. Women with naturally straight hair would hide their “unruly” and “wild” stick-straight hair in public. The desire for “lightweight hair” that defied gravity would permanently end the use of blow dryers. Keeping one’s natural blond hair wild and straight would become indicative of a political statement.

The anti-aging properties of black female skin combined with soft, curvy bodies would be proof of the overall reproductive health of black women. Scientists would argue that black women were naturally preferred as long term mates and mothers because they were “healthier.” Men’s attraction to women is based on overall health and fertility, after all.

Suddenly, biracial women would be “in” because the hard features of white women wouldn’t prevent the fragile genes of “black beauty” from peeking through. Men would suddenly have the desire to date “ethnic,” non-black women since they would look “closer to black” than blond women—at least they wouldn’t look like white women.

Statistics would equate the fact that white women make up the majority with their “overpowering” and “strong” population. This would be proof that they could handle unsafe neighborhoods. The “strong culture” they would have created amongst themselves would enable them to withstand their lack of protection from predators and criminals. Statisticians would argue that men were attracted to black women innately because they made up a small percentage of the population. “We tend to value what is rare,” they might say.

Men would proclaim that white women deserve sexual objectification because “flat buttocks” allow for deeper penetration. In ghettos across America, men would stand on street corners and yell “Damn! You got a flat ass!” to remind white women of their sexual status in society.

Upper class women would be afraid that their “asses looked flat” since it would represent animalistic and sexual deviance, like white women. Black women’s buttocks, said to protrude farther from the body, would prove that their natural vulnerability made them “less equipped” to handle hardcore sex and rape like white women could.

“I need a strong white woman!” would become a popular “empowering” slogan for exploitative men who rationalized the emotional, financial, and sexual overburdening of white women.

Overweight white nannies would become the “acceptable white women” in popular culture as they do not pose a threat to black female superiority and privilege. Conventionally attractive white women would serve as a sexual threat to black women for single-handedly breaking down the beauty hierarchy.

Hip hop videos would feature men throwing money at “white bitches” bent over in front of the camera to showcase their white asses, eager for deep penetration. Entire songs would be devoted to hatred of “white gold digging bitches” who believed that they were entitled to the financial security in marriage to which black women were entitled. “Penetrable white asses” and “pale-faced hoes” would become the cash commodity for selling entire musical genres.

White women’s “hard” bodies would be deemed more “capable” of fighting off sexual attackers, while the soft curves of black female bodies would become worthy of police protection. White women, despite being at high risk of being victimized by violence and sexual crimes, would not “need” police protection.

Movies would feature black women as the main objects of men’s desire across racial lines while stereotypes of evil, bitter, and oversexed white women would further prove why men of all races simply did not prefer blonds. “We can’t help those to whom we’re attracted,” men would say. “Preference” would become an unconcealed acceptance of discrimination against white women. White women’s anger towards and sadness about the status quo would show their unreasonable jealousy of the innate superiority of black women.

Republicans would ban abortions to protect the virtue of pure, black motherhood and liberals would advocate increasing the number of abortion clinics in “low income” neighborhoods where white women would be the majority. Liberals would claim that white women had “culturally” approved of sexual objectification and were “safe enough” without outside help since they were warned not to touch “in-group issues” with a ten foot pole.

And so on and so forth.

The most important reality is that black feminists would eventually grow tired of being seen as innocent and vulnerable in patriarchy and would fight to erase the commodity of black femininity. “The innocent, submissive, and vulnerable representation of women is what puts us in danger. The rigid category of femininity has contributed to our oppression,” they might argue.

In the back of every black feminist movement we would hear the quiet and dignified pleas of radical white feminists. “But, we do not represent femininity. We are considered strong, incapable of feeling pain, and sexually deviant—but all this has done is increase our likelihood of being in danger. And aren’t we women too?”

As Gloria Steinem wrote, “In short, the characteristics of the powerful, whatever they may be, are thought to be better than the characteristics of the powerless - and logic has nothing to do with it.”

What remains universally evident is that the many justifications for power and privilege are always inherent, always scientific, and always permeate society to the point that they remain deeply buried within our collective consciousness.

Until someone challenges them.

Veils in France

So, last week, France's law banning face coverings came into effect.  It is widely believed that this law was brought about to stop women form wearing the burka.  However, I don't believe the law specifically mentions the word burka.  I think I've talked about this before, but I'll talk about it again.

This is a fairly drastic law that has been enacted to stop a handful of women, (about 300 or so, I believe), from wearing the burka.  It is being enforce din the name of equality and ending oppression.  Now, maybe I'm being a little naive here*, but the idea of fighting oppression with yet more oppression is not only ridiculous, but unworkable.

No woman, no human, should be forced to wear something they don't wish to.  Women shouldn't be forced to wear the burka if they don't want to.  But this law won't address this issue of force.  For those women forced to wear it in public, there is a high possibility that now they simply won't be allowed out of the house, i.e. out in public.

For those women choosing to wear it, how on earth does this law help them?  How does banning their wearing of it make the banners (the government) any better than the people who force other women to wear the burka?

How does taking away women's choice help us achieve gender equality?

Mind you, I don't really believe that this law is about achieving gender equality.  France has always been very protective of it's culture, very keen to preserve the French language and French way of life.  Radio and TV stations must play/show a certain amount of French language songs/TV programmes, for example.  It's a secular country and doesn't have a lot of time for religion.  It also doesn't particularly like immigrants, or anyone un-French.  I get the impression it can be rather racist.

I think these things have led towards the ban on the burka,  I think that mentioning feminism and gender equality is just lip service, and that these terms are used only because it is politically convenient.  France is not free of sexism or misogyny (where is?) and this ban on face coverings does not further the feminist cause.  If this law is to be followed to the letter then I expect to see fancy dress masks and carnival masks also banned.

I don't expect this will happen.  Why not?  Because the French government cares about how French  (as in the degree of Frenchness of a person) people look on the outside.  Muslims in the burka do not look French, so they should be got rid of.  Out of sight, out of mind and all that.

For those that argue for a ban because seeing a women in a burka makes them, the onlooker, feel uncomfortable, well, if you think that you're a prat.

I think the French government would prefer Muslim women to wear more Westernised clothes - no doubt fashionable garments, probably tight and accompanied by high heels.  I.e., swapping one sort of clothing conformity for another, ugh.

No, this ban on the burka and other facial coverings does not help women at all.  There are more effective ways to help abused and oppressed women, whatever their religious or cultural background, but this stupid and downright offensive law is not one of them.


Discussion and comments welcomed.

*Here's a hint. I'm not.

Oppression Judo

Ami Angelwings wrote a really great post on oppression judo and how it benefits nobody.  She wrote it in response to the fall out from a racist video rant by UCLA student, that then generated a lot of sexist abuse from supposed progressives, criticising the student for being racist.  I highly recommend that you Ami's post.

The student is very deserving of criticism, because racism isn't ok, but when you criticise someone for being racist, when you point out to them that they are in actual fact racist (and that this isn't a desirable thing to be), it doesn't help your cause to sexually harass them and reduce them to their body parts.  Doing so doesn't make you better than the racist person, in fact it makes you as bad as they are.  It also doesn't reduce oppession and discrimination, which surely, by calling the racist out on their views, is what you wanted, right?

Anyway, Ami says this much much better than I and the piece is a joy to read.  So go read it already.  Or I'll get John Stewart involved:

My heart hurts

Found this on Ragnel's' tumblr page:
---------------------------------------------------

justaguywitharrows:

kiriamaya:

[TRIGGER WARNING for murder and trans-hatred]
[Image is a black-and-white picture of Tyra Hunter, a short-haired black woman, wearing what appears to be a turtleneck with a necklace]
abbyjean:

It was the morning of Aug. 7, 1995, and Tyra Hunter, a popular African-American hairdresser, was on her way to work in Washington, D.C. Suddenly, the car she was in was broadsided. In this situation, one would expect that Hunter would have promptly been taken to a hospital, where she would have received whatever medical care she needed. But tragically, and outrageously, that is not what happened. When emergency personnel arrived on the scene, they helped the barely-conscious Hunter out of the car and began treating her, but only until one of them realized she was transgender after cutting open her clothing. At that point, they backed away from her, began laughing at her and taunting her with anti-transgender slurs. They stopped treating her in a life-threatening situation. In what world does someone sworn to help others in emergency situations stop treating them to attack them? When she was finally transported to a hospital, her ordeal didn’t end. Doctors refused to treat her, and by the time she was finally granted medical care, it was too late. Hunter was pronounced dead the same day. (via COLORLINES)

Mandy Carter, “Still No Freedom Rainbow for Transgender People of Color”

may actually start weeping

What the fuck is wrong with people?
-------------------------------------------------------

I'm speechless.  Fuck I hate people sometimes.

Oh do go away

Also from the Golden Perfect story arc, this time it's JLA issue 64.

This was the only reference to sexism made in this story, sexism didn't seem to be part of Jarhanpur's culture so it seemed like this was thrown in to a) rile up Wonder Woman, b) set him against the heroes, and c) show how much of a bad guy he is.   A hint - decrying sexism within your comics is most effective when you decry all sexism, and not just when it suits you.

I'm guessing that Jarhanpur is meant to either in the Middle East, or in Asia somewhere.  It's not entirely clear what country it is modelled on.  Which is part of the problem.  America gets to be defined as America,  Britain and Western Europe get fairly distinct identities, but as soon as you get past the old iron curtain, or head into territories not dominated by white folk, superhero comics seem to put each culture and society into one giant melting pot and you end up with generic ex Communist country or generic non white country.  Characters become caricatures and the creators seem to have done absolutely no research on said country.

It's depressing and more than a little racist.  Because hey, they are all the same over there.  Not like us.  And their evilness can be shown in just a few offhand statements that us in the enlightened West would never ever think, no sirree.

Bah.

Ian Sattler is a prat

"It’s so hard for me to be on the other side because it’s not our intention. There is a reason behind it all. We don’t see it that way and strive very hard to have a diverse DCU. I mean, we have green, pink and blue characters. We have the Great Ten out there and I have counter statistics, but I won’t get into that. It’s not how we perceived it. We get the same thing about how we treat our female characters."

(emphasis mine)

I would use a stronger word than prat but I don't want to fill up people's blogrolls with rude words.

I'm not going to even bother explaining why that's such a stupid thing to say.  (Besides DCWomenKickingAss has already doen it rather well).  This is the kind of shit that makes comics seem insular and not for the everyday person.  These ridiculous arguments are the reasons I started up New Readers.., to prove that there is good imaginative, progressive, quality comics out there.  And I'm still having difficulty finding decent comics with non white characters, (but that's a more a reflection on my reading tastes than on the state of comics today).

Anyway, Ian Sattler. you are a prat of the highest order.

Brightest Day and Bristol Uni

I've been wasting far too much time on twitter and not enough time blogging.  I was going to write somethign about Brightest Day and tokenism but I've wasted too much time on Twitter.  On the whole, I liked Brightest Day, altho owning a White Power ring is now making me really embaressed.  If you're not sure what I'm on about, go check out WFA's links roundup.

News on Bristol Univeristy's proposed closure of the Deaf Studies degree.  Basically they've postponed the final decision, as they want to have a committe discussion about redundancies first.  Altho it now seems the whole department is being considered for closure, not just the Deaf Studies course.  I was chatting to someone today who's sister is at Bristol, doing the second year of her Deaf Studies course.  Apparently she may have to go to Wolverhampton to do the final year.

Thanks to all who have signed the campaign's petition and/or forwarded the links.

Does anyone know..

of any books/blogs/articles that deal with race theory and the representation of pidgin english in fiction?  Whether that be comics, films, books or tv shows.

Or can anyone suggest any books, films or tv shows that feature characters that speak pidgin english?

I am trying to research something but don't have the language or knowledge to put the right words into google search.  I'm not interested in real people who speak pidgin languages, i'm interested in their representations in fiction and popular culture.

Thanks for any help anyone can give.

Nick Griffin says the Labour party has organised it's immigration policies to keep Labour out

Nick Griffin, you are a fucking twat.  You are talking absolute shit.  The radio interviewer cannot believe what he is hearing.  Neither can I.  Griffin, you are an utter, utter, fuckwit.

In which I give some thoughts on Fallen Angel vol1 (DC run)

Well, I finally bought Fallen Angel vol 1.  I really liked it, especially if you read it as the successor to the Linda Danvers Supergirl run.  It's moody, it's dirty, the art is wonderful, it's mature, the story is good and it' basically right up my street, except for one character.

There's this dude called Asia Minor in it.  Yeah he's Asian, of course.  His real name is Cu Ba Mynah.   (Because Asian folks have funny names which should be anglicised and mocked, doncha know).  He's a drug lord.  (But most folks in this book are bad guys, be they drug dealers, thugs, or other types of criminals).  He speaks in broken English -  but it has been established that he can speak fluent English, he just puts on the broken accent for the image.

I wince when I read about Asia Minor.  Because I can't help thinking it's a somewhat othering, reductionist form of a character, built up around their race and not a lot else.

I'd like to invite a discussion here.  Is there more to him?  Does the character get more depth and are these issues addressed later in the series (I haven't yet read any more of the trades)?  Does it matter that this character is on the side of the stereotype?  Does the presence of other characters of colour mean that the presentation of this one is less offensive?

Thoughts and ideas welcomed.

So, Gordon Brown called somebody a bigot.

For international readers - Gordon Brown is our PM and is hot on the campaign trail for next week's general election.

A few days ago he met with a Labour voter, had a discussion, then forgot to turn his microphone off when he got in the car to leave.  His private conversation was then broadcast and we heard him call her "a sort of bigoted woman".  The media are having a field day with this. Incidentally (or not) it was a Sky news mic he was hooked up to.  Sky news, owned by Rupert Murdoch, the biggest Tory supporter there is.  Owner of the Sun newspaper, widely credited with giving us several Tory victories and the 1997 Labour victory.  Influential man, hates the Labour party.  What a surprise his company leaked the private conversation.

A full transcript of the conversation is here.  An edited version is here but it includes some of Brown's reactions and speeches after the conversation.  A clip showing Brown and Duffy's conversation is here.  A clip showing her response to Brown's comments is here.

It's taken me a few days to collect my thoughts on this .  From the transcript (emphasis mine):

----------------------------------

Duffy:
We had it drummed in when I was a child with mine … it was education, health service and looking after the people who are vulnerable. But there's too many people now who are vulnerable but they can claim and people who are vulnerable can't get claim, can't get it.
Brown:
But they shouldn't be doing that, there is no life on the dole for people any more. If you are unemployed you've got to go back to work. It's six months.
Duffy:
You can't say anything about the immigrants because you're saying that you're … but all these eastern European what are coming in, where are they flocking from?


Brown:
A million people come from Europe but a maillion have gone into Europe.  You do know that there's a lot of British people staying in Europe as well.
----------------------------------------

I'm not quite certain why she brought up Eastern European Immigrants in this conversation - it seems that she is blaming them for some of society's ills, given that she is discussing them in the same context as other societal problems.  Use of the word 'flocking' is provides and emotive, somewhat charged feeling to her comments.  Flocking is a word usually associated with animals (bird migration) and is on a par with words like 'flood' and 'stampede', also often used when discussing immigrants and immigration policies.  It is racist language and is used to other and dehumanise the subject.

Now, I think that Brown was absolutely right to describe her as a bigot.  She expressed bigoted views.  As many other commentators have said, lots of people in Britain think the same way as her, use the same language and express similar views.  The thing is, that doesn't make the comments any less racist.  It is very difficult in this country to have a conversation about immigration that doesn't use racist language and imagery.  Because we see it so often, because the media repeat it, because these views are accepted as standard and ok.  Because people who express these views are otherwise decent citizens and 'good people'.

But you can be an otherwise good person and still hold racist views.  You can be a 'good person' and not think about what you are saying.  You can be generally racist and specifically very liberal (disliking immigrants in general but defending your immigrant neighbours and friends).  This doesn't mean that your racism is ok.

I was very proud of Brown when he said that Duffy was a bigot.  It's so fucking rare that we get to see people in politics or in positions of power actually call someone out for talking crap.  I am now much more likely to vote for the Labour candidats in my area now that I know the party leader takes an active stand on this shit and can recognise petty racism when he sees it.

More from the second transcript:
---------------------------

On BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show
Vine: Is she not allowed to express her views?
Brown: Of course she's allowed to express a view, and I was saying that.
 -----------------------------

I really do not understand Vine's question there.  Nowhere in the whole conversation (with Duffy and with the aide), did anyone suggest that Brown wanted to stop Duffy speaking or censor her.  The thing about free speech is that you can say what you want.  But so can anyone who disagrees with you.  Censorship is not the same as disparaging or criticising someone else's views or arguing and disagreeing with them.



Duffy's response to Brown's comments:
----------------------------------------
After hearing of Brown's comments
Duffy: He's an educated person, why has he come out with words like that? He's supposed to lead this country and he's calling an ordinary woman who's just come up and asked questions what most people would ask him – he's not doing anything about the national debt and it's going to be tax, tax, tax for another 20 years to get out of this mess – and he's calling me a bigot. I thought he was understanding – but he wasn't, was he, the way he's come out with the comments.
---------------------------------------

I think Mrs Duffy is conflating educated with agreement.  I would say that it is precisely because he is educated* that he can use the word bigot accurately.  I feel that she is also missing the reason why Brown labelled her a bigot, but she seemed to be rather hurt by the comment (understandably, it's not a nice word, but that doesn't mean it's not true) and be rather distressed by it.  Mind you, I also think she is upset because it is job to listen to what the voters want and propose ways to improve the country, not insult them.  She has a valid point.

On the other hand he didn't insult her to her face, it was a mistake that the conversation was broadcast and anyone who thinks people (including politicians) don't bitch about their job and the people they meet behind their back, is incredibly naeive.

So, I'm now more likely to vote Labour, I have a great deal more respect for Gordon Brown and I am yet again pissed off with the generic public's attitudes to immigration and foreigners.


While we were watching this news unfold at lunch one of the twats in the office declared that all Labour voters were illegal immigrants and criminals.  I want to go back to the third sector please, I prefer their politics.


*By educated I don't mean to infer that only Uniersity education is worthwhile,  You can educate yourself through discussions with friends or reading blogs.  Each method is equally worthwhile to me.  However, I recognise that Duffy was probably referring to University education.

WTF Amanda Palmer?

I'm wondering how much coverage this will get in my regular blog reading, and I'm wondering if somehoe people might miss it, so I'm posting it here.

Amanda Palmer has apparently been complaining about how Lady Gaga is a sellout, cos she's advertising stuff in her videos (I think).  So she then tweeted this:

ironic product placement is only ok if you take no money & beyond that give all the income to something ironic. like the Klan

Link
Screencap

What the fuckity fuck?  I'm trying to work out if there could possibly be some background to this, or a long conversation that would somehow make the above make sense.  I can't think of anything that wouls ever make the Klan ironic, or make it ok to give money to them.  I gather it is likely Palmer will say the tweet is a joke.  Now, sometimes I am aware that I need jokes explained to me, buut even so, I do not see the humour in that statement.

[EDIT - This got brought up over on Shakesville, a commenter named Tiara the Merch Girl posted the following:
"Just to clarify: she doesn't actually dislike Lady Gaga, and has come out in support of her in the past. I suppose her mention of KKK is a sarcastic portrayal of irony - there was some discussion beforehand about how people are using "irony" to justify everything from racist remarks to poor music."
Yeah, I don't think that makes Palmer's tweet OK either]

Amanda Palmer, whatever you may have meant, you're a fucking idiot.

An LJ'er named sparkymonster has done a pictorial post demonstrating the difference between product placement and murdering black people, and has included some other good links.

(I originally picked this up at the Seeking Avalon blog, thanks for posting this Willow)

The Flash: Rebirth (spoilers)

I tell you what, this series makes a whole lot more sense and is much more enjoyable when read in one go.

I’ve never been a Barry fan, I didn’t know too much about him until recently and in my head he was an old fashioned 1D character that represented the old guard with all their stuffy ideas and out of date thoughts.  Not that I knew who this old guard is, but in my head, there is one.

Then I picked up Rebirth, and for the first two or three issues I still didn’t care for Barry.  He seemed self involved, moody, ungrateful and with no awareness of anyone else’s feelings.  Then we found out that these weren’t actually Barry’s thoughts, he had become infected with the Reverse Flash’s peculiar version of the speed force.  A-ha, all of a sudden Barry became more likeable, more heroic.  I began to see what all these old Flash fans were harping on about.

Then he brings Max out of the speed force.  And at this point I wouldn’t have cared what the rest of the mini was like, they’ve just reunited Bart and Max and I couldn’t be happier. 

Then finally, in issue number 5 we get a new speedster.  We get little Iris West taking responsibility for her brother’s pain and taking steps to end it.  She’s all of 8 years old?  6?  She shows greater maturity than a lot of adults in this universe.  As a result, she passes out and Jesse Quick arrives.  Jesse, newly rejuvenated and part of the speed force once more.  She brings Irey West back to us and it becomes clear that Irey is the new speedster.  With little lightening grips in her hair.

Then, as if that wasn’t good enough, when all the speedsters are racing along in formation (for anyone else this would be a Bad Ass Power Walk, but as they’re speedsters, they are running for the sheer joy of it), Wally uses the speed force to give everyone new uniforms.

Jesse Quick gets some new threads.  Wally gets a shiny, darker, more modern version of the Flash uniform.  And little Iris is in Bart’s old gear.  Ladies and gentlemen, we have another Impulse!  And Bart doesn’t look non too happy about it.

Thank you DC.  You’ve made me one very happy fangirl.

 

 

(Although why is Linda Parks drawn more Caucasian than Asian?  Is it just me?  Have I forgotten what Asian people look like?)

Telly update, spendings and Taken

I watched the last 2 episodes of Smallville season 8, and holy macaroni!  if you don't like spoilers look way now..
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They killed Jimmy?  Jimmy Olsen?  Central figure to the Superman mythos?   He didn't even have a signal watch!  Did they take the Countdown ad campaign seriously?  I liked this Jimmy.  Sure, him and Chloe has fuck all chemistry, but Mr Olsen himself was quite charming.  I guess it made sense with the storyline, and it certainly was very tragic.  I was convinced Chloe was gonna bring him back with her magic tears.

Apart from that, the rest of the final 2 episodes were good.  I can cope with Ollie being all dark and vengeful.  It doesn't suit him, but it doesn't suit him in the comics either.  I am not convinced about Smallville's Bart being in agreement, it seems somewhat out of character.  Or maybe I just want him to be the regular DCU's Bart.  I don't know enough about this universe's Dinah to comment on her.

While we're talking about Bart , head on over to Crimson Lightning and check out this adorable kid dressed up as Bart.  He's perfect!

Back on Smallville, the Doomsday defeat was quite good, even if we didn't see much of it.

It looks like Lois has been transported to the Legion in the 31st century.  This should make for all sorts of interesting shenanigans.  Even with the use of magic time travelling Legion rings.  Which is ridiculous.  

I am very excited about season 9.   I haven't had a chance to watch any yet and probably won't for the foreseeable future.  Meanwhile, I will just go giddy over the inclusion of the JSA (with a winged, maced and hairy chested [i hope] Hawkman!) .

I also saw another episode of BSG, from season 2.  Starbuck is shot on Caprica, taken to the hospital, tended by Cylons and discovers the farms.  A well done episode.

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So, way back when, I decided to try and make an effort and seriously cut down on the amoount of stuff I bought.  If you click on the consumerism tag you'll see my other posts on this matter.

Well, I think I lasted til August and then somehow it all went to pot.  The net result is, I haven't stuck to my resolution, but I'm not buying random crap either.  I have bought new clothes - dresses (some new, some second hand), socks, pants, etc, I have bought quite a few books, I have continued buying gifts for people and I have bought some utterly useless crap.  Well, it's useless only if you consider memorabilia from the first Christoper Reeve Superman movie to be crap.  I say if it makes your heart sing then it's not crap.  But more on that later, because there's a post in there somewhere.  I still consider my main spendings to be on lunches, dinners out, and beer.

What have I learnt from all this?
1) If you want to monitor your spending and keep track of it, you have to write down absolutely everything you buy.  Including newspapers and 10pence fortune cookies.
2) I have a pretty low attention span and not much resolve.

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Consider the movie 'Taken'.  It's got Liam Neeson in it, fucking shit up.  By action movie standards it's a pretty good watch, and like most action movies, the actual plot is somewhat incidental.  But nonetheless go and read a synopsis here.  Unless you've already seen it.

Ready? OK.

First of all, the one line plot summary on the IMDB says Neeson's daughter has been sold into the slave trade.  Actually, she's been kidnapped and sold to a prostitution ring.  She is shipped around various places while Neeson is trying to catch up with her.  She doesn't get raped but that's because she's a virgin.  Her sexually active friend dies of a drug overdose - the drugs are forcibly given to her in order to break her in.

The movie makes a fairly good attempt at not glamourising or sexualising Neeson's daughter's plight, but it's not so good at race stuff.
As she's getting shipped around we see lots of asian women being pimped out.  The movie does nothing for these women, Neeson completley ignores them and we see nothing put in place to save them.  The end message seems to be that if you're a young, pretty and white virgin you deserve to be saved.  If you're anyone else you can rot in your hell.  The movie does portray the other victims situation as vile and desperate.  It demonstrates how horrific it is.

Towards the end of the movie Neeson's daughter is finally sold to her new owner. Guess who he is?  A rich. fat, oil dealing Arab man.  Not that they're trading in stereotypes at all here.  No siree.

The point at which this surprised me was that they'd tried to deal with the women's issues, the horribleness of the forced sex trade etc, which is impressive for Hollywood, but they'd failed so hard at the race stuff.  Especially as it wouldn't have needed much to rectify this.

Clouds Moving In also has a review of the film.  She focuses on the sexism but doesn't touch the race issues,

I knew it

BNP claims 3000 new members after Question Time
15% of people say they might vote BNP in a local, European or General election

Does anyone else note the hypocrisy in Grifin claiming he was a victim of a lynch mob?

There were questions about things other than Griffin's racism, so Griffin's complaints of those grounds are worthless.  In addition, when the questions come from the audience it's entirely reasonable to expect that the panelists will be questioned on controversial views.

It also turns out that the BBC feared they would be taken to the high court if they disallowed the BNP on Question time.  Fair point.  I still ask, how is the party even legal?

Nick Griffin thinks London has undergone an ethnic cleansing. Has it bollocks.

The British National Party, or BNP (fascist right wing racist organisation) was on Question Time last night.
Question Time is a UK show put on by the BBC where politicians from varying parties are invited on to debate the issues of the day.  Since the BNP have an MEP they were invited on.  More on the ethics of this later.  I am watching it a day late on the iplayer, and having read stuff about it earlier today I am rather revulsed.  Apparently Mr Griffin (BNP leader) thinks that London has been subjected to ethnic cleansing, presumably because it's not all white and he has to see asian, indian and black faces when he leaves his house.  I rather think he should look up the meaning of the phrase.  Make no mistake, he is a racist fascist following nazi ideals and the BNP are a very dangerous party.
I assume my UK readers are all well aware of this event, but I feel my foreign readers should also be made aware.

Here follows a live blogpost of his appearence on Question Time.

Jack straw (Labour) states first of all that the BNP is a party based on race.  Good for him
I love Jack Straw.
If Churchill didn't like immigrants or muslims that doesn't make the BNP OK.
I like the audience.  A lot.
Saying you don't have a conviction for holocaust denial doesn't mean you never denied it.  Prick
I love Bonnie Greer.
And Chris Hulne.
I really don't understand how people can hate others that much - how can you loathe someone based on their skin colour?  It's inconceivable to me.  I (unfortunately) understand unintentional racism, it's tied up with privilege, it's tied up with being part of an overwhelmingly white and racist society.  Now that don't make it right, which is why I try damn hard to overcome any internalised prejudice I have.  But I really don't understand this vicious hate people have.
Saying Nazis hate you doesn't prove you aint one.  Ugh, you were on a video with the had of the KKK.  Apparently the head of a 'non violent one'.  Ugh Ugh Ugh.
Oh god, I'm sickened.  He won't explain why he's allegedly changed his mind about holocaust denial.
Have you guys ever been to Auschwitz or the other holding or concentration camps?  They're hideous.
Don't you dare pull the women's rights crap.
There is nothing Christian about his values.
OK I like tory lady now.  A lot.
Shit, this audience is good.
OK, now Jack Straw is being a bit of a prat over an immigration questioon.  So's the tory lady.
Tory lady is Sayeeda Warsi.  Maybe she's not a prat.
One lady has made a distinction between Afro-Carribean and African-Carribean.  I'm ashamed to say i;ve never thought of the use of the Afro-Carribean before.  Mind you, in my work sector we tend to use the phrase BME communities - Black and minority ethnic communities.  When we break down ethnicity we use Black British, Black African, Black Carribean etc.  That's dictated to us by the requirements of our funding bodies, usually local government or regional authorities.
Bollocks you think skin colour is irrelevant.
Shit, you just said America Red Indian.  Prick.
Ahh my god white people are not discriminated against in this country!  There is no black conspiracy.  You fucker.
Us white folks are not subject to an ethnic genocide.  Fucker.
Oh gods I love Bonnie Greer.  Giving Griffin a history lesson, hurrah!  She's deputy chair of the British Museum and has invited him along to have a lesson or two.
Yep, send Griffin to the colourless landscape of the South Pole.  I wholeheartedly concur.
Yep, go tory lady.  Too right there's no such thing as a bogus asylum seeker.
What the fuck is wrong with change?
A ha! A question on whether Jan Moir's article should have been published.
Bonnie Greer reminds me of BSG President lady.
Oh there's a surprise.  Tory lady is homophobic.  And a liar.  Don't like her anymore.  And she's the shadow minister for community cohesion!!  What, are non hetero folks not part of the community?
Oh Fuck You Nick Griffin.  Fuck you.
Being homophobic is not 'the way it is'.  Oh, the militant gays can't preach homosexuality to schoolchildren can they?  It's perverse is it?  Fuck you.
The Labour party has done more for gay rights than any other party.  They may have a lot of other things wrong with them, but they have done a lot for the likes of me.
Oh.  He thinks the BBC is an unpleasent ultra leftist institution.  And he's shaking. Good.
Oooh, Jacqui Smith is on next week.

Oh my god he's such a total cunt.  And there's not a signed version of the show???**

Arggh.  Now I feel unclean.  As to whether he should have been allowed on it or not.
Unfortunately the BNP do have a member of the European Parliament in place.  Which menas they have a 'right' to be on Question Time. Because they are a 'legitimate' political party.  I don't understand how they are legal, and I think it's very well saying that oh well Griffin has now shown himself up, but we can say that because we're all naturally left wingers anyway. 
I did have some more in depth thoughts about this, but my recall and brain power has now failed.  So instead, visit Deeplyflawedbuttrying.  She says it much better than I could.

If you want to view the programme you can find it here.  It will be available for the next 7 days.

**I take it back.  It maybe be available later, but it needs to be broadcast and signed first